A number of Chinese billionaires from East China's Zhejiang province showed an interest in investing in Xiamen when they gathered on Wednesday, the opening day of the China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT).

Eight entrepreneurs in businesses ranging from real estate to purified water, hotels and electric power shared their insights into investment opportunities and challenges in Xiamen as well as the surrounding West Straits Economic Zone.

A seminar held in the city on Wednesday enabled company leaders to have a dialog with He Peikun, a municipal official of Xiamen, who is in charge of investment.

Zong Qinghou, president of Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co, ranked the richest man on the Chinese mainland in 2010 by Forbes magazine, said Fujian has a very open-minded policy to attract investment and will offer huge potential as cross-Straits tensions ease. He said his company wants to diversity its business beyond purified water and plans to enter the retailing industry.

Chen Miaolin, who runs a local hotel management group, said Xiamen needs to further improve its tourism infrastructure. He noted that Xiamen needs to upgrade its coastal sightseeing places and take into account the convenience of tourists if it aims to build itself into a top-level tourist destination.

Chen said his company has plans to develop a resort in Tong'an district, a new economic development zone in Xiamen that the city intends to turn into a high-class locale for leisure. He added that Xiamen has its own advantages in natural resources to develop for the tourism industry, despite poor design and infrastructure in some parts of the coast.

Wen Bangyan, who runs a venture capital investment fund in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, said Wenzhou, as a part of the West Straits Economic Zone, shares many cooperation opportunities with Xiamen.

He said abundant capital held by individuals in Wenzhou should be able to provide financial services for the projects development in the zone.

"The financial assets in Wenzhou and industry assets in Xiamen should mix together to create a bigger platform with free capital flows," he said.

Xiamen's municipal official He said Zhejiang entrepreneurs play a very important role in investing in Xiamen and he hopes the city will attract more companies from other provinces to invest.

The West Straits Economic Zone includes Fujian province, Wenzhou and the eastern part of Guangdong province, with Xiamen at the center, said He.

By Chen Jialu