MILAN, Italy, Jan. 17 -- China's enhanced imports have highlighted new investment opportunities in the market of the world's second-largest economy, experts said on Friday at a seminar held in Italy's business capital Milan.

China's total imports increased 7.3 percent to 1.95 trillion U.S. dollars in 2013, while exports rose 7.9 percent year on year to 2.21 trillion U.S. dollars, according to data of the China General Administration of Customs.

The customs figures revealed that China's imports of Italian goods posted a notable 9.4-percent growth in 2013 compared to 2012. Italy is China's fifth-largest trading partner in Europe and bilateral trade exchange registered a 3.9-percent increase in 2013 to 43.3 billion U.S. dollars.

China, which is the world's largest exporter and second-largest importer of goods, was enhancing the import industry and retaining export growth at the same time, said Li Bin, Economic and Commercial Attache of the Consulate General of China in Milan at the seminar.

The environment, urbanization, agriculture and healthcare fields are high on China's agenda and provide a business vehicle for economies such as Italy characterized by a strong presence of high value-added companies, Li said in the presence of Chinese Consul General in Milan Liao Juhua and other officials.

The scale of China's imports expanded from 2007 to 2012 with an annual average growth rate of 13.7 percent, which was 2.8 percentage points higher than the annual average growth rate in export trading.

In fact, Li also noted, the biannual Canton Fair, or China Import and Export Fair, was originally an export-promotion event until its name was officially changed in 2007 to the present name of the China Import and Export Fair from the Chinese Export Commodities Fair.

China's largest fair with an illustrious history, the Canton Fair has become an international trade platform and one of the most effective ways to develop business relationships in China.

Since its inception in 1957, Canton Fair has been witnessing an increase in the variety of products on display along with impressive turnovers and huge buyer attendance, Director General of China Foreign Trade Center Wang Zhiping said at the seminar.

The 114th Canton Fair, that concluded on Nov 4, 2013, attracted nearly 190,000 buyers from 212 countries and regions, and the upcoming 115th edition, that will open on April 15, 2014, will be no less so.

Not only the fair was attaching great importance to innovation especially in key sectors such as hi-tech and machinery, but it was constantly improving the supervision of exhibits' quality standards and professional level, Wang said.

In the framework of the business instruments offered by China, the "challenge" for foreign entrepreneurs will be "their ability to identify market opportunities and plan proper strategies from 2014," the Milan-based Italian-Chinese Chamber of Commerce President Pier Luigi Streparava said.

The growing use of the yuan, or Renminbi, in international commercial transactions has also been opening up new opportunities for foreign companies, Streparava pointed out.

Since 2009, China has promoted Renminbi internationalization, facilitating international trade and investment denominated and settled in Renminbi, stimulating offshore Renminbi services centers and encouraging central banks to hold Renminbi as part of their foreign exchange reserves.

As a result, the currency's trade finance has accelerated significantly, with an increasing proportion of China's trade now settled in Renminbi.