A growing number of overseas investors are preferring to setting up wholly-owned companies in east China's Jiangsu Province rather than share the businesses with local associates.

Because of this, the number of overseas wholly owned enterprises in the province reached 628 during the January-September period of last year, an 11 percent rise on a yearly basis, as compared with the growth rate of 7.5 percent for Sino-overseas joint ventures during the nine months.

The enterprises totally backed by overseas investors introduced2.05 billion US dollars of actual overseas money, nearly 200 million US dollars more than the amount used by new Sino-overseasjoint ventures in the same period, according to an local official source.

This transition of investment style by overseas is due to an improved local investment environment, which has enhanced the confidence of overseas investors.