A total of 435 contracts were signed at the eighth Central China Expo, yielding an investment value of 446.9 billion yuan ($72.7 billion), nearly triple that of last year's event, according to the expo's organizing committee on Monday.

Investment mainly eyes emerging sectors including new energy and electronic information technology, as well as railway construction, the modern logistics industry and the cultural tourism industry.

CSR Corp Ltd, China's largest train producer, is set to pour up to 7.8 billion yuan into a research and development center to be established in Luoyan, a western city in Henan province.

The center is one of 135 contracts with single investments worth over 1 million yuan, making up 76 percent of total investment volume during the event.

The expo, an annual showcasing event that ended Monday, drew investment from home and abroad. It aimed to fuel economic growth in the country's central region, covering six inland provinces including Shanxi, Anhui, Henan, Jiangxi, Hunan and Hubei.

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