The eighth Central China Expo, an important platform for contract-signing and investment in China's central regions, kicked off on Saturday in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan Province.

Some 36,014 businessmen, including senior executives of Nestle, Carrefour and other big names among the world's top 500 companies, are attending the three-day event.

The event aims to boost trade activities and draw domestic and foreign investment into central regions that China has planned to build into favorable destinations for industrial transfers from coastal areas amid economic restructuring.

China set out its "Rise of central China" strategy in 2004, following similar strategies for the west and northwest of the country, amid efforts to achieve more balanced development nationwide.

The six central provinces of Shanxi, Anhui, Henan, Jiangxi, Hunan and Hubei are home to one-fourth of China's population and account for one-fifth of the country's economic output.

According to the organizing committee, the six provinces drew at least 110 billion US dollars of investment from the previous seven expositions.

At this year's event, there are 5,850 projects open to investment, of which about half, worth 400 billion yuan, will be settled in Henan. The organizing committee estimated that the exposition will see the signing of 135 project contracts with investment exceeding 1 billion yuan, which accounts for 75 percent of the total investment value.

In addition to traditional industries, more projects are from emerging industries such as new energy, electronics manufacturing and modern logistics.