Chinese investment in the United States is likely to double "in a relatively short period", given lower costs and more local incentives, the China Daily reported on its website yesterday, citing an American official.

Although the current stock of Chinese investment in the US only adds up to US$6 billion (S$7.7 billion), there is potential for a "significant increase", Mr Steven Olson, the Executive Director of SelectUSA - a programme under the US Commerce Department to attract foreign investment - told the newspaper at a forum in Nanjing.

Direct investment in the US grew at an average annual rate of 53 per cent from 2005 to 2010.

China is the fastest-growing source of its foreign investment, with investors involved in industries such as green energy, electronics, communications, industrial machinery, and software and IT services, Mr Olson was quoted as saying at the US-China Cities Forum on Economic Cooperation and Investment.

At the forum, investment contracts worth US$3.4 billion were signed, while four Chinese companies announced investments in the US totalling US$70 million.

Representatives of more than 50 cities and 200 companies from the US and China attended the conference, which ended on Saturday.

TODAY