The director of China’s Foreign Investment Department under the Ministry of Commerce has said the country will soon establish export-orientated purchasing centres using funds raised through foreign investment.

Hu Jingyan made the announcement at the 7^th China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT) held in September.

According to the policy, trans-national purchasing groups will be able to conduct export business under independent qualification and benefit from the refunding of export tax.

The purchasing centres will initially be established in China’s major cities. Foreign investors applying for units will be required to have a registered capital of Y30 million ($271,584) or above.

The centres will conduct exporting and related business, such as warehousing and re-exporting of processed products, as well as the importing of samples needed in export-orientated purchasing. Large companies will be able to buy industrial products in China, thus expanding the nation’s export market and attracting more investors.

According to the Government Department, one third of the world’s top 500 retailers have, so far, invested a total of Y3 billion ($27.2 million) in China. Trans-national retail groups spend over $30 billion on purchasing in the country every year, Wal-mart, Carrefour and Metro spent over $15 billion in 2002. In the same year, China’s total consumer goods sales increased 8.8% to Y4 trillion ($36.2 billion), compared with 2001.

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