US companies are expected to invest another 17 billion U.S. dollars over the next three years in south China, the Guangdong Daily reported on Saturday.

China's new Labor Contract Law, which came into effect on Jan. 1 this year, has increased labor cost, especially for labor-intensive industries, Harley Seyedin, the President of the American Chamber of Commerce in South China, was quoted as saying.

However, Seyedin said, US firms are less badly hit because they mostly recruit technical and managing staff and pay them higher salaries than required by the law.

Seyedin made the remarks at a meeting with the Guangdong Provincial Labor and Social Security Department.

Foreign-funded enterprises have invested 2.11 trillion US dollars in China as of the end of last year, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAFIC) said on March 11. The cumulative total dates back to 1978, when China began its reform and opening-up policies.

(Xinhua News Agency March 22, 2008)