"They hope to establish their own entities here in the US and a stable sales network," he said.

Zhu said these clients also hope the US market will absorb some of their excess capacity and build up their brand to compete with other global brands.

Like several of those present, Hu Huamin, chairman of Henan Aeroport International Flower Industry Co Ltd, was attending the summit for the first time. As one of the few in the Chinese delegation in the agriculture business, she hoped to find a US partner that shared similar goals.

"I want to see if there is a good investment opportunity for us here," she said, "and also if there is new technology and product variety we can introduce in China."

Xu Chen, president of Bank of China in the United States, also serves as chairman of the China General Chamber of Commerce (USA), an organization whose members are mostly Chinese companies in the US. He described the Chinese and US economies as highly complementary.

Xu listed real estate, healthcare, insurance, food processing, high-end consumer goods and the cultural industry as some of the hot spots for Chinese investors.

In his view, the fast-aging Chinese society will create a huge market for the healthcare industry. He believes Chinese capital and manufacturing capacity can be greatly enhanced with US technology to serve the Chinese market.

Chinese investors poured $73.52 billion into 4,136 non-financial entities overseas in the first five months of this year, up a hefty 61.9 percent from the same period last year, according to Shen Danyang, spokesman of China's Ministry of Commerce.

High-profile Chinese investments in the US this year included Qingdao-based Haire's $5.4 billion acquisition of GE Appliances, and Wanda Group's $3.5 billion acquisition of Legendary Entertainment.

Chinese FDI in the US grew to more than $15 billion in 2015, setting a record high, according to an updated New Neighbors report released in April by the Rhodium Group and the National Committee on US-China Relations.

chenweihua@chinadailyusa.com