All five BRICS countries participated in the 15th China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT) in Xiamen to seek cooperation opportunities with Chinese investors.

For India and Russia it was their first appearance at the event, which promotes business opportunities to international investors.

"We are very happy to take part in this event because the trade between India and China is growing very fast," said Indra Mani Pandey, consul-general of the Consulate General of India.

Pandey said the bilateral trading volume was about $62 billion in 2010 and it is expected to reach $65 billion in 2011. He estimated the volume would reach $100 billion in 2015.

"Now we want to attract Chinese companies to invest in India," said Pandey.

India will host a seminar on Thursday in Xiamen to introduce the investment environment in the country. Some 75 Chinese enterprises are to participate in the event.

As one of the largest emerging economies in the world, international investors including Chinese investors are keeping a watchful eye on the Indian market. Many technology companies, including Shenzhen-based Huawei, have already established or plan to establish production or research bases in India. However, Pandey said the scale of investment is not large enough at present.

Pandey said Huawei is planning to invest $1.2 billion to expand its R D center in Bangalore.

"Chinese companies can produce at very competitive prices in India. In China, the cost of production is growing very fast. India is a big consumer market and our economy is a consumer-driven economy."

However, Chinese companies may not know about India's investment environment and the benefits that can be obtained by investing in India.

"Many of them do not know the opportunities and policies in India and how they can benefit from investment in India. We have to convince them," he said.

CIFIT has become an important platform with which to do this.

It has also been identified by Russia as a means to attract more investment.

Anastasiya Kuznetsova, chief specialist of the agency for the development of the Kuluge region of Russia, said she hopes Russia can participate again next year to better promote the country's investment opportunities to Chinese companies.

"It is the largest fair we have attended," said Kuznetsova. "There are many business opportunities in Russia that Chinese companies do not know of."

The international fair has attracted more than 35,000 domestic investment projects and more than 5,000 investment projects from abroad, Shen Danyang, spokesman of the Ministry of Commerce, said at a news conference on Tuesday.

Investment projects at the fair tend to focus on energy conservation and environmental protection, the low carbon economy, port logistics and modern agriculture.

In 2010, the net amount of China's outward direct investment surged 21.7 percent to $68.1 billion, growing for the ninth straight year and with an annual average growth rate of 49.9 percent. By the end of 2010, there were 16,000 Chinese-invested enterprises in 178 countries and regions, covering 90 percent of Asia and 85 percent of Africa.

(China Daily 09/08/2011 page7)