Hunan Province expects to introduce Hong Kong investment for over 3,500 provincial projects during the Hunan-Hong Kong trade fair from May 31 to June 3.

Hunan's Vice-Governor Yu Youjun said on Monday that Hunan Province expects to introduce US$34.9 billion for 3,500 projects.

The projects cover financial services, insurance, commerce, logistic, infrastructure and some other sectors.

He said, so far, Hunan has registered a total of 4,511 Hong Kong-funded ventures, with the contracted value of US$7.5 billion of investment.

Yu added that Hong Kong-funded ventures in Hunan accounted for 52.5 percent of all overseas funded ventures in the province and have become the most important source of overseas investment.

He said, in the first three months of this year, Hunan has introduced US$218 million of investment from Hong Kong, accounting for 65.3 percent of the province's total overseas investment during the period.

He said Hunan has also attracted the attention of some Hong Kong tycoons, adding Hong Kong top tycoon Li Ka-shing's Hutchison Whampoa Limited has entered Hunan's property market and hotel giant Kuok Hock Nien has also prepared to build a five-star hotel in Zhangjiajie, the most famous scenic spot in Hunan.

Some other presidents of big Hong Kong-listed companies also showed strong interest to launch cooperation projects with Hunan, he said.