The nation will further expand access for foreign capital, especially in services sectors such as technology, finance, education, culture and logistics, the Xinhua News Agency reported Sunday, citing an official.

The government is actively studying the loosening of access restrictions in the advanced manufacturing sector, said Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng, speaking on the sidelines of the fourth session of the 12th National People's Congress, the report said.

Active structural changes have been taking place in China's utilization of foreign capital, Gao was quoted as saying. The country attracted a total of $126 billion in foreign investment in 2015, an increase of 5.6 percent year-on-year, out of which 70 percent went to advanced manufacturing and the services sectors, Gao said.

The high-tech services sector achieved continuous growth in January and February in 2016, and it attracted $2.52 billion in foreign capital, up 156.6 percent on a yearly basis, according to a statement released Friday by the Ministry of Commerce.

The country welcomes foreign investment in the services sector, which is undergoing development at present, said Zhuang Rui, deputy dean of the Institute of International Economy at the University of International Business and Economics.

"The sector will become a new source of economic growth during China's economic structural transformation and create many employment opportunities in the country," Zhuang told the Global Times on Sunday. The advantages of the domestic traditional manufacturing sector have been declining due to rising labor costs in recent years, she noted

Using more foreign capital is an important part of China's opening-up. With the implementation and promotion of the "One Belt, One Road" initiative, the country's middle and western regions have become the new front of opening-up, Gao was quoted as saying by the Xinhua report.

The markets in middle and western regions of China are attractive to foreign companies thanks to their great development potential, Xie Shuiqing, an associate professor at the Economics and Management College at the Chongqing Jiaotong University, told the Global Times on Sunday.

For instance, Singapore chose Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality as one of its important investment target cities in 2015, Xie said.

"The operating cost of foreign companies that sought to expand in China was quite high in the past. There's no question, however, that the infrastructure of these cities has improved," he said.

The country has been highlighting policies on promoting opening-up in the middle and western regions, and local firms and residents are also welcoming, according to Xie.

Foreign capital is also encouraged to participate in the reform, transformation and upgrading and innovative development of State-owned enterprises, Xinhua said, citing the commerce minister.

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