China is stepping up efforts to promote two-way investment and deepen global industrial cooperation amid rising geopolitical and economic uncertainties, officials said on Wednesday, as the country unveiled plans for its flagship investment fair later this year.

The 26th China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT), hosted by the Ministry of Commerce and scheduled for Sept 8 to 11 in Xiamen, Fujian province, will focus on two-way investment, international industrial and supply-chain cooperation, and strategic sectors, officials said at the fair's first promotional event in Beijing.

The event comes as China seeks to stabilize and expand foreign investment while encouraging domestic companies to "go global" in an orderly manner, against a backdrop of slowing global economic recovery and rising geopolitical uncertainty.

Wu Di, deputy director general of the department of foreign investment administration from the Ministry of Commerce, said China attracted more than $750 billion in foreign investment during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), ranking first among developing countries, while more than 30 percent of this inflow went into high-tech industries.

China has rolled out a series of measures to improve the foreign investment environment, including further shortening its negative list for foreign investment access and fully removing restrictions on foreign investment in the manufacturing sector, Wu said.

The country has also expanded pilot opening-up programs in areas including cloud computing, biotechnology and wholly foreign-owned hospitals, while revising its catalog of encouraged foreign investment industries to expand support for advanced manufacturing, modern services, and green and low-carbon sectors, he added.

This year, China will further deepen reforms to its foreign investment promotion system, expand market access in the services sector and improve support services for foreign companies, Wu said.

Meanwhile, China has strengthened support for domestic companies investing and operating overseas.

China's outbound investment reached $174.38 billion in 2025, with cumulative overseas investment stock exceeding $3 trillion, according to the ministry.

Yang Hao, a commerce ministry official, said China issued its first guideline on improving overseas comprehensive service systems in October last year, introducing measures to support Chinese companies operating abroad and protect their overseas rights and interests.

Yu Guangsheng, deputy director of the ministry's Investment Promotion Agency, said this year's CIFIT would place greater emphasis on international industrial and supply-chain cooperation.

The event will feature forums, project road shows and investment matchmaking activities focused on sectors including artificial intelligence, healthcare, the low-altitude economy and green energy, while expanding its financial exhibition area, Yu said.

Finland will serve as guest country of honor at this year's CIFIT, while Guangdong has been named guest province of honor.

Melissa Saila, minister counsellor from the Embassy of Finland to China, said around 250 Finnish companies currently operate in China, generating a combined annual revenue of about 15 billion euros ($17.57 billion).

Last year's CIFIT attracted participants from 138 countries and regions and resulted in 1,154 signed investment projects, according to organizers.

This year's event will relocate to the Xiamen International Expo Center for the first time, with total exhibition space expanding to about 200,000 square meters, the largest in the event's history.

lijing2009@chinadaily.com.cn