Officials and researchers have urged the government to come up with effective measures to encourage more domestic enterprises to invest overseas.

They said the "go-out" strategy is vital to the overall development of China, which has already become the biggest destination for foreign direct investment with a total amount of more than US$50 billion this year.

Lin Yaoqin, researcher with the Institute of Economics under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said: "The government should draw up a package of detailed measures to push forward its strategy."

He suggested a special commission to manage and promote China's overseas investment, which is the current responsibility of the Ministry of Commerce and the State Development and Reform Commission.

"The government should have a special commission and fund to tackle this demanding and pressing task because our overseas investment is urgently in need of promotion considering its tiny volume at present," said Lin.

Official statistics reveal China's overseas direct investment registered only US$2.3 billion last year. However, it has made rapid progress in comparison with US$37 million in 1982 and US$128 million in 1993.

Lin said enterprises with comparative advantages should be encouraged to set up processing or assembling plants and improve their sales network in the other parts of the world. This will gradually nurture a number of Chinese enterprises that can engage multinational operations with their own brand names.

Lin suggested encouraging China's competitive electrical household appliance enterprises to set up plants in developing countries, enhancing high-tech cooperation with enterprises in industrial countries and bolstering Chinese energy companies to help other nations explore oil and mineral resources.

Official sources with the newly established Ministry of Commerce said the government has already mapped out a plan to aid the establishment of hundreds of multinational enterprises.

The goal is for 50 Chinese enterprises to be among the top 500 of the world by 2015. And about 500 medium and 5,000 small multinational companies should be nurtured.

"The development of China's overseas investment is very fast and we have made many achievements," said Wu Xilin, senior official with the Ministry of Commerce who is in charge of overseas economic cooperation.

Statistics from Wu's ministry revealed China had set up 6,960 enterprises overseas with a total investment of US$13.7 billion by the end of 2002, of which US$9.3 billion was invested by Chinese side.

The total business volume of China's overseas project contracting and labor cooperation projects reached US$144.2 billion, with 2.73 million Chinese working overseas in various service export projects -- an increase of 432,000 compared with the figure at the end of 1989.