The municipal government of Ya’an in Sichuan province signed 28 investment contracts with domestic and foreign firms in the Sichuan provincial capital, Chengdu, on Wednesday.

With an investment of more than 15.4 billion yuan ($2.2 billion), the contracts are aimed at boosting the development of logistics, new energy, new materials and education, as well as infrastructure construction in Ya'an.

Some 300 representatives from more than 200 domestic and foreign firms witnessed the contract signing ceremony after government officials and entrepreneurs promoted the city's investment environment.

Located at the intersection of the Sichuan-Tibet and Sichuan-Yunnan highways, Yan'an is about a one hour drive from Shuangliu International Airport in Chengdu.

It is best known as the birthplace of tea, its large areas of dove trees and, more important, as Sichuan's giant panda habitat.

In 1869, Armand David, a French missionary, became the first European to discover the giant panda in Dengchigou, Ya'an, and he introduced the cuddly bear to the West.