Bahrain officials are seeking to attract Chinese value-added businesses to invest in the Gulf nation, trade officials in Beijing said Monday.

Chinese companies with sector expertise, such as telecom and finance are encouraged to extend their businesses to the region, said Esam Adbulla Fakhro, chairman of Bahrain Chamber of Commerce & Industry Monday.

As a financial center in the Middle East, Bahrain has an attractive regulatory economy with tax-free investment opportunities as well as low operating and living costs, which will provide a solid foundation for investors, said Fakhro.

Major Chinese firms currently invested in Bahrain include Huawei Technologies, ZTE Corp, Yuanda Enterprise Group and the Bank of China.

Bahrain officials are in Beijing to attend the two-day China Overseas Investment Fair, which starts Tuesday.

"Although the numbers of Chinese companies in Bahrain are limited, we believe more will come as the government encourages companies to go abroad," Kamal Ahmed, chief operating officer of Bahrain's Economic Development Board said Monday.

Yesterday morning, the Bahrain Chamber signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Beijing-based China Gulf International Communication Association to help lure more Chinese investors to Bahrain.

"There are new energy, manufacturing and produce distributors expressing an interest in (investing) there," Liu Jialin, head of the association said Monday.