A seminar exploring innovative modes of investment and financing was held in Xiamen, East China's Fujian province, on Sept 7, as part of the 2019 CIFIT.

About 100 participants attended the seminar, including Chinese entrepreneurs, finance experts from the United Kingdom, the United States and France, as well as government officials from Algeria, Congo, and Djibouti.

Wen Jiandong, vice-president of the China-Latin America Production Capacity Cooperation Foundation, said that the investment risks in Latin America and Africa were mainly the result of big changes in policy, high inflation and interest rates and strict foreign exchange controls.

However, their situations were experiencing positive changes and their investment environment had improved overall, Wen said, adding that therefore the opportunities outweighed the risks for investment in Latin America and Africa.

Wang Zhiming, president of China Railyway Signal & Communication Corp, pointed out that there was still a long way to go before China's technical standards for rail traffic reached European standards and they could break into the market controlled by European, American and Japanese standards.

Jiang Zhongwen, vice-president of Sinoma International Engineering Co, shared his ideas about investment abroad.

He said that market research and analysis was the key before entering a new market and then businessmen needed to adapt to the local market and to changes in international market demand.

Jiang also noted that boosting a company's own competitiveness should be the top priority in moving into a foreign market.