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REGIONAL> Development
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Expo highlights Northeast Asia trade
By Liu Mingtai (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-09-26 07:58
The 4th Northeast Asia Investment and Trade Expo has sharply boosted regional trade, said Chen Weigen, vice-governor of Jilin province. Foreign trade volume hit $475 million at the annual fair, 15.85 percent from previous session, Chen told a press conference shortly after the fair's conclusion on September 6 in Changchun, Jilin province. Food, manufacturing and pharmaceuticals are top three contributors to the record volume, Chen said. Export makes $419 million of the total, Chen said. Total domestic contracts reached 1.31 billion yuan ($192 million), up 3.15 percent from last session. The worth of the 171 investment contracts the province signed during the annual fair reached 10.6 billion yuan ($1.55 billion), up almost 37 percent from last session - another breakthrough of this year's fair, according to Chen. As the enlarged investment scale of the fair helps widen fund-raising channels, the contracted investment included $2.57 billion from 12 foreign countries and regions. Big contracts are a notable feature of this year's fair, Chen said. Most of the 171 projects are large ones worth each 100 million yuan, with 27 above 1 billion yuan level and 14 above 2 billion yuan level. Chen also said the expo's executive committee held investment talks involving 1,610 projects during the fair from September 2 to 6, The event attracted altogether 50,000 participants, including business people from 69 countries and regions such as the United States, Germany, France, Britain, Spain and Canada as well as Northeast Asia countries. Domestic participants came from 26 provinces or municipalities. And 62 of the global Fortune 500, 95 renowned commerce chambers, 82 financial institutions, 31 large Chinese enterprises and 76 top purchasing agents from home and abroad took part. A total of 805 companies - 318 from overseas - displayed their products at the 2,000-plus booths. Chen said this year's fair was different from previous sessions because more high-ranking officials took part in the fair, and the number of custom-made booths greatly increased. The participants included four deputy level State leaders, nine deputy-ministerial senior business officials, 53 senior administrators from global Fortune 500 and 31 managers from China's large central enterprises. Custom-made booths this year reached 1,220, or 61 percent of the total, an increase of 13 percentage points from last session. International booths increased to 708, up from last year. Exhibitors from all six Northeast Asia countries were put into section A displaying area, indicating the integrity of regional economic cooperation. With successful conclusion of the 4th Northeast Asia expo, preparations for the next fair have already started, Chen said, adding the 5th expo will be held September 2-6, 2009 in Changchun International Exhibition Center. So far 25,000 invitation letters, plus 80,000 introduction materials of the fair, were released. In addition, 700 survey paper were also released during this year's fair to seek feedbacks of the participants so as to further improve the annual trade event. More leading companies both from home and abroad are expected to show their brand-name products. As the fair moves to link suppliers and buyers worldwide, the 3rd high-level forum on Northeast Asia Economic and Trade Cooperation, and the 5th Northeast Asia Economic Cooperation Forum will add to its highlights. |
