The Chinese government welcomes overseas people and enterprises to invest in the country's old industrial base in the northeast, an official with the Ministry of Commerce said Sunday.

In response to a question at a press conference on the eve of the Seventh China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT), Wen Zaixing, the Commerce Ministry official and also spokesman for the organizing committee of CIFIT, said that it is necessary to use foreign investment in the rejuvenation of the old state-owned industrial enterprises.

CIFIT is held annually in Xiamen, Fujian Province, and this year it is set to open Monday morning.

The invigoration of the old industrial base in the country's northeast is of the same importance as the development of the country's western regions, Wen said.

"It is a vital step in the nation's strategy of building a well-off society in an all-around way," he said.

Wen said that the country in recent years has made a series of policies to lure foreign investment into the reform of its enterprises and foreign investment is also given access to the restructuring of financial assets management enterprises.

The country has also issued new regulations on overseas investment into and mergers with its domestic enterprises, which Wen said allows foreign businesses to merge with Chinese domestic enterprises by purchasing stock.

The northeast has its advantages in natural resources, industrial infrastructure and human resources, Wen said, and the region can surely regain its former glory if it can make good use of its advantages, the nation's preferential policies and foreign investment.

Wen said that investment in the northeast is as promising as that in the country's eastern coastal region.

(Xinhua News Agency September 8, 2003)