Chinese companies, long-time recipients of foreign investment, have started to export funds and technologies amid global rising demand for economic cooperation partners.

More than 50 China-funded firms are doing businesses involving industry, consumer goods and logistics in the U.S. State of Illinois, while 10 years ago there was none, said Norman L. Li, managing director of the state's Far East Bureau.

Chinese companies, particularly those specializing in construction, electronics and bio-technologies are warmly welcomed to invest in Illinois, the United States' fifth largest state and the hub of manufacturing, trade and transportation, said Li at his booth in the exhibition hall of the ongoing China International Fair for Investment and Trade, held in this coastal city of east China's Fujian Province.

He said Chinese entrepreneurs are hardworking and flexible, which led to high corporate efficiency. Moreover, Chinese products are of good quality and competitive in prices.

"China will become a major source of global investment sooner or later, although it is still young compared with Britain and Japan -- the top two investors in Illinois," Li said.

Many famous Chinese companies, including COSCO, Haier, Huawei, and Baosteel, have introduced capital, technologies or administrative methods to Italy, according to Barbara Gasperi, trade officer of the Italian Trade Commission I.C.E.

Busy answering questions from delegates of Chinese companies at the fair, Gasperi said she really hoped that more Chinese investors build up confidence in the business prospect in Italy --a Mediterranean country with geographically strategic significance.

Claiming that Chinese investors are "innovative" and "getting increasingly popular in the world capital market", the Italian officer said China, which is developing fast in a peaceful way, will always benefit the world economy.

Companies and organizations from 65 countries and regions, including Canada, Germany, Turkey and Thailand, among others, are promoting investment environment and projects to numerous Chinese participants to the annual fair, which was launched 11 years ago as a platform to facilitate international economic and trade cooperation.

China set forth the "going-beyond-the-border" strategy in 1999, encouraging domestic enterprises to invest and do businesses abroad. The membership of the World Trade Market allows China to enjoy a more open world market.

More than 10,000 Chinese companies have established firms in about 160 countries and regions as of 2006, involving 73.3 billion U.S. dollars in accumulated direct investment, said Deputy Minister of Commerce Wei Jianguo when addressing a conference here encouraging mainland enterprises to invest in Hong Kong.

In the first half of this year, China's investment on the overseas markets hit 7.8 billion U.S. dollars, up 21.1 percent from the same period of last year, according to the Ministry of Commerce. North America and Asia are the top two investment destinations.

According to the state plan for commercial development between 2006 and 2010, China will encourage more domestic companies to setup businesses abroad, establish technology research centers and firms, and improve international cooperation in the service sector.

To support the outbound investment momentum, the People's Bank of China, the central bank, will scrap unnecessary controls on foreign exchange reserves and simplify administrative procedures, said Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the central bank.

The bank will encourage domestic companies to raise capital through various means including bank loans, going public and bond sales, and will crank up efforts to develop more products on the foreign currency markets to help them shun risks brought about by the changes in market exchange rates and interest rates, Zhou promised.

However, Chinese investors, still lagging behind enterprises from developed nations in terms of overall capacity and experiences, should be fully aware of the destination market, and adopt proper investment strategies, warned Liu Yingkui, a professor of economics with Shandong College of Finance.