Int'l trade fair closes in NE China

HARBIN - The 24th China Harbin International Economic and Trade Fair concluded Wednesday in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang province, with major contracts being signed.

About $14 billion worth of foreign-related contracts and 587 domestic projects valued at 250.9 billion yuan ($40.9 billion) were signed during the five-day fair, according to the fair's organizing committee.

Import and export contracts amounted to about $11.4 billion. Export trade deals mainly covered clothes, textiles, equipment and machinery, while imported goods included ferrous metals, timber, paper products and petroleum products, it said.

In addition, 11 overseas investment projects were inked, totalling $640 million, $510 million of which was invested by the Chinese side, said the organizers.

The fair attracted 12,600 traders and buyers from 75 countries and regions worldwide.

Russia remained the largest trading partner at the fair. It signed import and export contracts worth of $8.69 billion, accounting for 79 percent of the total volume of the signed trading contracts.