China's relatively poor western regions are to receive 296 billion yuan (US$43.3 billion) of investment through 551 projects signed Friday with investors from both China and abroad.

Those deals were sealed at the tenth Western China International Economy and Trade Fair in Chengdu, provincial capital of Southwest China's Sichuan Province.

The region has 12 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, with a combined population of about 370 million.

Chinese investors contributed 539 of the 551 projects, involving 288.9 billion yuan of investment. The rest 12 projects would be invested by foreign contractors, involving in around US$1 billion of investment.

Sectors involving local resources, equipment manufacturing, service and new and high technology were investors' favorite target areas.

According to agreements signed here, German industrial conglomerate Siemens would spend 30 million yuan in Chengdu to setup a "Global IT Operation Center", intending to provide better IT operation support for its customers.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's Foxconn Group, the world's top maker of outsourced electronics, would invest US$1 billion to build an industrial base in Chengdu, setting up production lines for products like LED-TV, LCD module, LED backlight module and LCD package. The new base will also develop software and sell 3C digital products as wells.

(Xinhua News Agency October 17, 2009)