HANGZHOU, Dec. 9 (Xinhuanet) -- Four hundred and fifty of the World Top 500 companies have invested in China, said Wei Jianguo, Vice Minister of Commerce on Thursday.

    He said at an activity held between China's private businesses and the world's top 500 firms in Hangzhou, capital of east China's booming Zhejiang Province.

    China has been improving its investment environment in recent years, while foreign investors have been optimizing their investment structure, said Liu Yajun, director of the investment promotion department under the Ministry of Commerce.

    Businessmen from 202 countries invested in China this year, involving 600 billion US dollars covering almost all fields like the service, manufacturing and rural infrastructure construction sectors, Liu said.

    The high-tech and trade service industries were most favored by overseas investors, Liu said.

    Overseas investment has contributed a lot to China's economic growth.

    The industrial added value made by the joint-ventures took about 27.8 percent of the national industrial added value last year, Liu said.

    The joint ventures contributed to about 20.8 percent of the national revenue and provided about 20 million jobs last year, Liu said. Enditem