Senior Chinese officials Thursday called on local firms to go global at the World Economic Development Declaration Conference (WEDDC) in Zhuhai, South China's Guangdong Province.

"We welcome multinational companies from other countries to invest in China. At the same time, we will actively foster our own multinational companies," said Vice-Premier Wu Yi.

"We will create all kinds of (favourable) conditions to help our multinational companies further explore overseas markets and engage more strongly in global economic competition and co-operation," Wu told the conference.

Cheng Siwei, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, said: "We should take the opportunity presented by the world's industrial restructuring to vigorously absorb international capital, technology and talents to create our own multinational firms."

The development of multinational Chinese firms will promote China's exchanges and co-operation with other countries, said Cheng, also chairman of WEDDC's organizing committee.

"It will speed up the establishment of a new equal and reasonable world economic order and contribute positively to the long-term and stable development of the world economy," he added.

A number of big and high-level enterprise groups have emerged in China.

Turnover from China's top 500 industrial companies accounted for 68 per cent of the nation's gross domestic product last year.

However, they still lag far behind the world's biggest multinationals in terms of core competitiveness, corporate governance and operating efficiency, according to Cheng.

"We could establish big groups in some industries featuring large economies of scale and low production costs," he said.

Many Chinese enterprise are responding to the government's call.

"We have established an initial framework for our expansion into a multinational company," said Zhou Mingchen, chairman of China National Cereals, Oils & Foodstuffs Import & Export Corp - one of the Fortune top 500 multinationals.

"We are moving steadily towards our goal of becoming an internationally competitive and influential company," Zhou told China Daily.

He said the company, based in Hong Kong, has invested more than US$200 million and opened 19 branches in foreign countries and regions.

"I cherish the opportunity here to talk face to face with senior domestic and foreign officials, experts and business people," said Xing Wenxiang, president of Yida Group, a private firm developing a software park in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning Province.

Yida is seeking co-operative opportunities with both domestic and foreign companies to expand the park, according to Xing.

More than 400 of the world's top 500 multinational companies have invested in China.

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