Several Fortune 500 multinationals have signed deals on 20 investment projects, worth 21.8 billion yuan ($3.16 billion) in China's Southwest Sichuan province.

The agreements secured on Thursday include a commercial center by France's second largest retailer Auchan Group, a biomass material production base by US science and engineering conglomerate DuPont, and a research program on rubber resources led by the Royal Dutch Shell Group - Europe's largest oil group, according to Sichuan Provincial Investment Promotion Bureau.

At the investment matchmaking event on Thursday, secretary of Sichuan Provincial CPC Committee, Wang Dongming, said the province will continue to optimize the business environment for multinationals, and seek investments in fields such as transport construction, electronic information, smart manufacturing and biological medicine.

Sichuan is one of the seven new free trade zones slated for inauguration soon which Wang expected would bring about a flurry of reform dividends.

President of Dell's China arm, Huang Chenghong, said his company was considering increasing research and development investment in Sichuan this year. He did not disclose the exact amount, given it was still in negotiations.

Data from the local investment promotion bureau shows Sichuan's output value from the high-tech industry amounted to 1.6 trillion yuan in 2016, double that in 2012.