Members of the American Chamber of Commerce in South China expect their investment budgets to total more than $16.5 billion over the next three years, representing an increase of 40 percent on the previous three years.

Despite a sluggish global economy, member companies in the region expressed strong confidence in the market and in China's economic reforms, according to a survey published on Tuesday in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province.

The poll asked 425 companies to predict their projected investment spending between 2013 and 2015. The chamber has more than 2,000 corporate and individual members in the southern Chinese region.