Officials from the United States are echoing the exhortation of the 19th-Century forebears and telling their countrymen to "Go west" -- but this time in China.

More American entrepreneurs and companies were eyeing China's, less developed western hinterland, said William A. Brekke, commercial counselor of the US embassy in China.

"Western China's provinces are quite like the American western regions years ago, full of business opportunities. Both American and Chinese companies can find chances for cooperation here," Brekke said at the sixth China Western Region International Economic Cooperation Fair in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

The fair is held in conjunction with the 11th Investment and Trade Forum for Cooperation between East and West China, which over the past 10 years, has seen the signing of 1,305 foreign investment contracts worth a total US$15.6 billion.

More than 4,000 foreign investors from 30 countries attended this year's event.

The US embassy's foreign commercial service brought representatives from the states of Kentucky, Illinois, North Carolina, Maryland and Idaho this year, making it the biggest-ever US Delegation to the forum.

"About 50 percent of the American companies in China are currently based in Shanghai and Beijing. What they will do next is to help American firms enter China's medium-sized cities and western regions," Brekke said.

The development of western China had strong support from the Chinese government and big western cities, especially Xi'an and Chengdu, were very strong in high technology, electronics and energy, said William Chu, director of Asia Pacific office of North Carolina.

He said he would recommend the western provinces to the US firms wanting to do business in China.

Last month, Idaho-based Micron Technology Inc. invested US$ 250 million in a manufacturing facility in the Xi'an Hi-tech Industries Development Zone.

It was Micron's first manufacturing facility in China and is a project involving the biggest investment ever made at the Xi'an High-Tech Zone.

Applied Materials Inc., a major nanotechnology manufacturer, also opened a new technology support center here last month.

The latest in the wave of American companies "going west" is software giant Oracle, which is to open its fifth Chinese branch in Xi'an.

"China is already the largest export market of Idaho State," said Roger Madsen, acting director of Idaho Department of Commerce, who has visited China six times in the past three years.

China launched the western development strategy in 2000 to help the relatively backward west catch up with the more prosperous east.

The strategy involves 12 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, covering 6.85 million square kilometers and with a combined population of about 367 million.

The combined GDP of western regions reached 3.33 trillion yuan (US$481 billion) in 2005, compared with 1.66 trillion yuan (US$214 billion) in 2000.

However, the used foreign capital totaled US$2.17 billion in the western regions last year, making up just three percent of the country's total.

David Snodgrass, managing director of the Kentucky China Trade Center, said with eastern markets maturing, he believed more US firms would move from east to west, or explore more markets in the west.

"Opportunities are in every field here depending on the firms who find the cooperation here," he said.

Snodgrass, who mainly helps US firms find partners in China, said he was convinced he would soon be introducing Chinese investment to the US.

"It'll be very soon, don't you think?" he said. 

( Xinhua News Agency April 11, 2007)