WUHAN - Companies along China's Yangtze River economic belt are looking beyond their home turf for business opportunities.

During the 22nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting, which was held in Beijing, Liu Meng, executive president of the Yangtze River International Chamber of Commerce, was busy seeking out overseas delegates for future business cooperation.

"The development strategy China has marked for the Yangtze River economic belt brings unprecedented opportunities for companies in the region," Liu said, adding that these companies were keen to forge global partnerships alongside the exploration of local potential.

Liu said that companies had different aspirations when it came to global cooperation: some want to attract foreign investment and inject new management while others aimed to invest abroad and expand into the global market.

For example, several companies from Central China's Hubei province intend to set up business connections with Australia, with one eyeing Australia's lobster aquaculture technology, according to Liu.

Eleven provinces and municipalities are included in the Yangtze economic belt - Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Chongqing, Yunnan and Guizhou. The belt along China's longest river covers more than one fifth of the country geographically, or two million square kilometers.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang urged the building of an economic belt along the Yangtze River to underpin China's sustainable economic development, in a meeting held in April.

A State Council guideline released in October seeks to enhance the traffic capacity of the Yangtze River and its tributaries. An integrated transport system is scheduled to connect roads, railways and air routes by 2020.

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