A record number of exhibitors are expected at the 99th session
of China's largest export commodities fair and 180,000 overseas
buyers are expected to attend, a spokesman for the event said in
Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province on Thursday.
A primary indicator of foreign trade the fair has an exhibition
area of 270,000 square meters with 30,058 exhibition booths, said
spokesman Xu Bing. The fair opens tomorrow.
The 12-day event has 177,000 overseas buyers registered from 210
countries and regions, Xu explained.?
Of the 13,868 exhibitors slightly less than 30 percent are
state-owned and 58 percent private and companies with foreign
investment.?
A total of US$29.43 billion of deals were signed at the last
fair in October 2005. Business done at the biannual event accounts
for a third of China's general trade each year.
Among the buyers are 74 multinational firms such as Wal-Mart and
Carrefour. The top five buyers at the last fair were the Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region, the USA, Taiwan Province, Japan and
the Republic of Korea.
(Xinhua News Agency April 14, 2006)