The majority of foreign-invested enterprises in China are still optimistic about the country's business environment, a US business group leader said in Beijing Tuesday.

Harley Seyedin, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in South China, told Xinhua in an exclusive interview that most of the foreign enterprises represented by the chamber considered the business environment in the country favorable, and were planning to invest 44 percent more in 2010 than they did last year in southern China.

"China's economic recovery is well on its way," Seyedin said. "The investment prospect here is very optimistic." He was speaking just weeks after the American Chamber of Commerce in South China released its 2010 Special Report on the State of Business in South China earlier this month.

The American Chamber of Commerce in South China represents more than 1,650 enterprise and individual members, and has conducted its special report study annually since 2006.

According to the special report, more than 90 percent of enterprises that took part in a study by the chamber considered China's business environment to be good, very good or outstanding.

It also said 90 percent of the respondents believed China's business environment had improved compared with 12 months ago.

"These optimistic figures show that foreign-invested enterprises participated in our study are very confident of China's business environment," Seyedin said.

The chamber estimated that its members would invest a minimum of US$9.4 billion this year.

"The enterprises are increasing their investment budget in China because it has a favorable investment environment, and because they can profit in China," Seyedin said.

According to the special report, close to 79 percent of respondents said their companies had already reported profits, whereas another 15.7 percent expected profitability within two years.

Wang Yukui, head of the communications department of Boeing China, on Tuesday told Xinhua the investment environment for foreign businesses on the Chinese mainland had seen continuous improvement since Boeing entered the market 38 years ago.

"We have good cooperation with the Chinese aviation industry," he said.

Zhu Jiming, president of the China branch of Caterpillar, the world's largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, said in an email statement that China's investment environment for foreign businesses had seen remarkable progress since China joined the WTO in 2001.

"Since China's entry into the WTO, a lot of laws and regulations had been revised, enabling foreign enterprises to set foot in fields they had been not allowed to in the past," Zhu said.

He said Caterpillar's business in China only included sales and production when it first entered the country in 1996.

"But now, our business scope has expanded to research and development, production, sales, service, financing, and logistics, ... thanks to China's open and supportive policies in those fields," Zhu said.

Commenting on China-US trade frictions, Seyedin said trade disputes between the US and Canada by far outnumbered those between the US and China.

"For reasons I don't know, China-US trade disputes have been constantly exaggerated by the press, leading people to dismiss US disputes with other countries, or even with the Europe," he said.

He suggested the Chinese and US governments conduct friendly negotiations and dialogue, to resort to the WTO and avoid unilateral actions when facing trade disputes between the two countries.

David Hon, CEO of one of the world's biggest manufacturers of folding bicycles and accessories, Dahon, also urged the Chinese and US governments to resist protectionism, in order to provide a favorable investment environment.

Both domestic and foreign funded enterprises in China were hoping for an environment of fair competition, Hon said.

He said China's laws and regulations on labor, taxation, and work safety among others were reasonable, and that the US enterprises should abide by the laws like their Chinese counterparts.

(Xinhua News Agency March 31, 2010)