Ye Shangyu, vice-governor of East China's Fujian Province, Wednesday dispensed with the traditional scissors and ribbon to open a virtual trade fair with just the click of a mouse.

Ye also became the first visitor to the high-tech fair, which is a bid to shrug off the negative economic impact of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) by finding new ways to increase foreign trade.

More than 6,000 domestic and foreign companies have put information about their products on the website.

The fair's sponsor, the province's Foreign Trade Office, said small private companies have shown great interest in the event, believing the fair could serve as a way to expand their businesses and also save trading costs.

Officials said they have scrutinized the qualification of the companies attending the fair to ensure the security of the trade taking place.

They hope the website would exist for a long time, to become an important foreign trade platform for the province.

Officials said SARS, since its breakout in March, has undermined the economy of the province, which counts largely on foreign trade.

The trade volume at the traditional Spring Trade in March in the province has plummeted by 86 per cent as fewer foreign business people attended.

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