China likely to invest over $1 trillion overseas in next 5 years, says Li

BEIJING (Reuters) - China is likely to invest over $1 trillion overseas and import more than $10 trillion in commodities over the next five years, the state-backed China Daily quoted Premier Li Keqiang as saying.

Speaking to heads of Central and Eastern European nations at a summit in Suzhou on Tuesday, Li also said China could help provide more flexible funding conditions to those countries to upgrade their infrastructure, as long as they use Chinese equipment and products, according to the state paper.

Li said China was on track to reach its economic growth target of about 7 percent this year, and the economy was undergoing adjustments to maintain reasonable medium-to-long-term growth.

He also said China was exploring the possibility of establishing a multilateral financial institution with Central and Eastern European countries, as well as a joint fund that would be denominated in Chinese yuan.

The summit, attended by leaders of 16 Central and Eastern European countries, is set to end on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Beijing Monitoring Desk; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)