The central Chinese city of Luohe held a press conference in Hong Kong on Friday to invite investments in over 160 projects and promote a food exposition that will be held there in August this year.

The 6th China (Luohe) Food Exposition, slated for opening in Luohe on August 27 with 1,000 booths in a total exhibition area of 20,000 square meters, is expected to attract over 5,000 businessmen from both within the country and abroad, city mayor QiJinli told a press conference in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

"The preparation for the food expo is proceeding as planned and I am sure we will make the exposition a top-notch national fair," he said.

Qi said the fair, an upgraded edition of the Central China Food Festival, which has been staged annually over the past five years, will comprise investment invitation, promotion and trade, with special sections reserved for Hong Kong, Taiwan and foreign business organizations. Overseas exhibitors will be given free booths, he said.

The 5th Central China Food Festival held last year attracted 5,122 businessmen representing over 800 enterprises from 19 countries and regions.

Luohe is home to indigenous food brands such as Shineway (Shuanghui), which is the largest meat processor in Asia, and Nanjiecun, the instant noodle producer. It is one of the Chinese cities for pilot reform projects and an inland special economic zone.

The city is about an hour's drive from the international airport in Zhengzhou, capital of the central province of Henan, China.

Luohe has been inviting investments in more than 160 projects over the past 10 months, with agreements signed on Friday on seven of the projects to represent a total investment of 334 million U.S. dollars. A letter of intent was signed on one of the industry parks, involving a potential investment of 150 million U.S. dollars.