Promoting FDI in central, western regions is priority

"To strengthen the western region's competitiveness to attract foreign investment, we need to highlight the industrial advantages in those regions," said Yao Jian, spokesman for the ministry.

Examples include industries that process agricultural products in Jiangxi province and the marine economy and cruise manufacturing industries in Hainan province. These projects are competitive and able to attract more foreign capital, according to Yao.

"The ministry will further improve the investment environment in the central and western regions, providing fiscal support and boosting human resource reserves for foreign investors," said Yao.

"Foreign investment in high-end industries, including electronic information, aerospace, pharmaceutical manufacturing and modern agriculture has started to take shape and some of them even became as developed as those in eastern region," the ministry said.

The service and high-end industries have grown fast due to the backing from foreign investors. In 2012, foreign investment in the service sector was 48.2 percent of the total FDI the country received. And FDI to the transportation equipment and general instruments sectors increased by 17.15 percent and 31.82 percent, respectively, according to the ministry.

"Establishing a cooperation platform between the eastern and western regions is to play a leading role in optimizing regional distribution of foreign capital," said Yao.

"The comprehensive cooperation mechanism has not only promoted industrial upgrading and transition and facilitated the output of advanced management mechanisms in East China, but also enhanced the quality of the use of foreign capital," Yao added.