Some of the multinationals, including Nortel, Lucent, Samsung and Sony, have relocated their research centers from Hong Kong or other places to Guangdong, said an officials with Guangdong Provincial Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Commission.

"Guangdong is no longer a processing plant for those multinationals," said the official.

During the first four months of this year, direct overseas investment in the province totaled US$5.04 billion, an increase of 104 percent over the same period of last year, said the official.

Most of the investment came from the multinationals, which mainly focus on hi-tech, petrochemical projects, and infrastructure and energy projects.

These projects require large sums of capital and long periods of time to achieve returns, which reflects the confidence the multinationals have in the investment environment in Guangdong, said the official.

Adjacent to Hong Kong, Guangdong has been the major destination for overseas investment in China during the past two decades.

Guangdong exported US$91.9 billion worth of products last year, nearly 40 percent of the country's total.

(Xinhua 06/02/2001)