Investments totalling 13 billion US dollars have been introduced into Sichuan Province, more than any other province in southwest China.

Sichuan has now approved the establishment of over 5,000 overseas-funded enterprises, and 30 of the world's top 500 corporations have made investments in the province.

The Mitsubishi Bank Ltd. of Japan, the Banque Nationale de Paris (the National Bank of Paris), the Overseas-Chinese Banking Corp. of Singapore, and other nine overseas financial institutions have also established offices or branches here.

By the end of last year, Sichuan enterprises had signed contracts with overseas companies worth nearly 12 billion dollars, and from January to September this year contractual investment reached over 930 million dollars, 660 million of which has already been utilized.

The provincial government seeks to further open its market to the rest of the world, and has managed to improve the investment environment for foreign enterprises. Statistics show that overseas- funded enterprises have reported a volume of 250 million dollars in exports, 15 percent of the province's total.

The inflow of many overseas companies and institutions is also helping improve local economic development by offering advanced technologies and management methods to local enterprises, along with more than 200,000 job opportunities.