The Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation (MOFTEC) has finished drafting revisions to three laws covering foreign investment in China.

The draft revisions have been sent to the State Council for approval, Wen Zaixing, vice-director of the general office at the trade ministry said.

The ministry is also drafting laws to cover anti-dumping moves and other areas relating to foreign investment, he added.

Wen made the announcement yesterday at the fourth China Fair for International Investment and Trade, to be held in Xiamen in Fujian Province.

The fair, China's largest relating to international investment, is scheduled to open today and last until next Tuesday.

Forty-three groups are seeking partners for more than 10,000 projects at the fair, according to a booklet from the sponsors, Fujian provincial government and Xiamen municipal government.

MOFTEC, the organizer, said it had chosen 888 key projects to offer to foreign investors. These projects have been advertised on-line and in the fair's booklets.

There are more than 200 visiting foreign industrial and commercial enterprises, government organizations and key companies at the fair. More than 4,000 business people are also expected to attend.

China's pending entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its commitment to WTO rules are expected to improve the country's investment environment and boost foreign investors' confidence in China.

The country has signed bilateral deals with 35 of the 37 WTO members.Only Mexico and Switzerland do not have official deals with China.

Wen said the country was actively preparing to stand up to challenges and grasp opportunities presented to it by its pending WTO membership.

It was revising laws and rules relating to foreign trade and economic co-operation and was building up a transparent legal system, he said.

It was also busy training managers of State enterprises, government officials and other skilled people so they would be familiar with WTO rules, said Wen.

Industries are currently debating what effect China's entry into the WTO may have on them and they are thinking of how to make the best use of the development. The government is also checking what it can do to help industries without breaking WTO rules.

Wen said encouraging foreign investors to go to China's interior and western regions was a major theme of this year's fair.

He said foreign investors would enjoy more preferential policies in those regions than they would in the coastal eastern areas.

Foreign companies investing in China's coastal areas would be encouraged to re-invest in the interior and the west, said Wen.

To this end, China has decided to further open investment fields to foreign investors and to try to expand technological co-operation with foreign firms in these developing areas.

(China Daily)