Foreign businesses are welcome to invest in industries like integrated circuit production and software development and to set up research and development institutions, said Hu Jingyan, director of the Foreign Investment Administration Department under the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC).

China needs foreign direct investment (FDI) to "play a key role" in introducing new technologies to the country's high-tech industries, instead of focusing only on labor-intensive sectors, Hu said.

Hu made the remarks at the Second Annual Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Global Forum on International Investment held yesterday in Shanghai.

The forum, with the theme -- "Attracting FDI for Development" -- drew more than 160 high-level officials from OECD and other multilateral institutions like the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization.

Besides high-tech industries, China plans to inject foreign investment into its relatively backward logistics sector so as to meet the demands of its overall economic development.

Overseas businesses are encouraged to establish procurement and distribution centers in China, as well as to open chain-stores, according to Hu.

"We need to learn advanced management and marketing techniques from those multinational sourcing giants," said Hu.

As for the country's hinterlands, FDI can make a positive contribution to local infrastructure construction of transportation, telecommunications and energy supply networks.

(China Daily December 6, 2002)