The China Council for International Investment Promotion was established yesterday to encourage both foreign investment into China and outbound investment.

The council is expected to integrate all forces for investment promotion across China, according to Deputy Commerce Minister Ma Xiuhong.

Members of the council include local investment promotion agencies, major economic and technological zones, enterprises and organizations.

Ma said the council would be complementary to government investment promotion agencies so as to encourage investment from foreign businesses into China and outward investment from domestic firms the two key themes of the country's investment promotion strategy.

"It (the council) should fully play the role as a non-governmental organization and carry out diversified investment promotion events around the country," she said.

The council will also convey investment-related laws and regulations to enterprises as well as channel their feedback to government agencies.

The council will not only focus on attracting investment and increasing the volume of outward investment, but will help local organizations enhance their investment promotion, said Zhou Ming, deputy director of the Investment Promotion Agency under the commerce ministry.

"Furthermore, by keeping long contact with enterprises, we expect the council will provide investors and potential investors with delicate services, in particular in some multi-industrial projects," she said.

For example, Zhou said they would continue to provide services to Chinese enterprises after they invest overseas.

By the end of May, China had attracted US$645.4 billion in foreign direct investment from over 200 countries and regions.

And over 9,600 Chinese-funded enterprises had been established in more than 160 countries and regions across the world.

However the country's outbound investment is still small compared to the inbound volume.

The outward investment of Chinese enterprises totalled US$55 billion by the end of May.

The Chinese Government will further encourage enterprises to invest outward, according to Ma.

For example, the government will encourage enterprises to invest in Mexico, expecting them to cash in on Mexico's close economic ties with the United States.

Ma also encouraged domestic enterprises to use the China International Fair for Investment and Trade in Xiamen, East China's Fujian Province, as a springboard to go abroad.

Chinese firms enjoy a competitive edge in investing in some developing economies, in particular in areas like textiles, garments and construction materials, said Zhao Chuang, a Ministry of Commerce official.

"Some Chinese firms are not large scale, but they enjoy good potential, for their technologies are welcomed by the world and are adapted to developing countries," he said.