Foreign investment in China is now diverting from coastal cities to western inland regions, according to a recent report on trends among Singapore companies.

Compiled by the Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences and the National University of Singapore, the study attributes the change to more rapid economic growth in the west than in China as a whole.

The report released in late April said that the country's western cities, especially Chengdu, are becoming preferred investment destinations for Singaporean companies and other multinationals.