Vice Premier Wu Yi said on Wednesday that enterprises from South Korea are welcome to invest and start businesses in central China.

Wu made the remarks in a meeting with Kim Young-ju, minister of commerce, industry and energy of South Korea, prior to the second Expo Central China to be held on Thursday in Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan Province.

The expo is aimed at attracting outside investment to Chinese provinces of Henan, Anhui, Jiangxi, Shanxi, Hunan and Hubei.

Wu said the expo is a key measure China takes to revitalize its central areas and help the areas open wider to the outside world as well as other areas of China.

Wu expressed her appreciation for the support of the South Korean government and enterprises for supporting the Expo Central China.

Kim gave positive comments about the rapid development of the South Korea-China economic and trade relations and praised the achievements made by the Chinese government on protecting intellectual property rights.

Kim expressed the hope that the Chinese government continues to offer support and assistance to the ROK enterprises in China.

Bo Xilai, Chinese minister of commerce, and Xu Guangchun, secretary of the Henan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, also attended the meeting.

Official statistics showed that overall trade volume between China and South Korea totaled US$130 billion in 2006.

(Xinhua News Agency April 26, 2007)