China plans to encourage about 10,000 foreign companies and east-based businesses to go west in the next three years, a Ministry of Commerce official said.

Li Zhiqun, director of the ministry's foreign investment management department, said the ministry would take measures to push forward the go-west campaign.

The government would give strong support to development zones in Central and West China as well as infrastructure construction, Li told a recent forum in Beijing.

He said the government hopes foreign investors to pour more funds into the high-tech, energy-saving and environmental protection sectors. Modern agriculture and services are also on the list.

Multinational corporations are also encouraged to set up regional headquarters, research and development centers as well as training centers in West China.

China has been the largest recipient of foreign direct investment among the developing countries for 15 straight years.

Government statistics show that some 90 percent of the foreign investment enterprises are located in East China, which worsens the unbalanced development between the west and the east, analysts say.

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