China welcomes foreign businessmen to invest in the country's information, machinery, light and petrochemical industries, to help reform and cooperate with Chinese enterprises in these fields, spokesmen for the industries said September 10.

They made these remarks while briefing representatives of

multinational corporations, who are attending the on-going fourth China Fair for International Investment and Trade, on related policies and situations.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Information Industry said that China lags behind developed countries in many aspects of the industry, especially in some key technologies such as software and integrated circuits.

He expressed that, China encourages inflow of foreign funds

into the information industry, and hopes that foreign-funded

information industrial enterprises will further raise their

technical level and expand investment scale.

A spokesman for the State Administration of Machinery Industry said that China's machinery industry will suffer a bigger and longer blow than other industries following China's accession into the World Trade Organization (WTO), especially some key technical equipment, electromechanical equipment and high-tech products.

He said, China will make greater efforts in luring foreign

funds into the sector, to reform its machinery industry, and by

cooperating with large foreign companies, to improve management

and operations.

China will also expand exports of machinery products and

encourage powerful enterprises to launch operations overseas. A spokesman for the State Administration of Light Industry said,

China will focus on the adjustment of the industrial structure in the next five years. Priorities will be placed on the development of paper-making and light industry equipment, the development of new-type household electric appliances and plastic products, and the reform of food and leather industries.

A spokesman for the State Administration of Petroleum and

Chemical Industries said that in the future, China will mainly

develop chemical products for agricultural use, supporting

industries for the petroleum and chemical industries, energy-

saving and environmental protection industries, and the petroleum and chemical industries in the western region.

(Xinhua)