China is stepping up efforts to prepare for its accession into the World Trade Organization (WTO), a senior official of the State Development Planning Commission ( SDPC) said Wednesday.

China will allow foreign investors more access to domestic markets, further improve the investment environment and attract more foreign funds, Li Zibin, vice-minister of the SDPC, said at an international forum on China's economic development.

Great potential exists in China's domestic market, providing a promising future to foreign investors, while Chinese enterprises will also expand their investment overseas, enhancing Sino-foreign economic and technological exchanges and cooperation, he said.

China's economy cannot develop without cooperation with the outside world, while the development of the world needs China's contribution, the official said.

More than 100 prominent figures from economic circles both at home and abroad attended the forum, which was co-sponsored by the Macroeconomic Institute of the SDPC and the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC).