Eastern fair increases in scale, attendance
By Zou Huilin (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-03-02 08:59

The 14th East China Fair, the largest regional trade fair in China, kicked off at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre on March 1. The fair is witnessing a sharp increase of the scale and the number of international exhibitors.

The seven-day fair occupies a floor area of 80,500 square metres, a 40 per cent increase when compared with the area of the 2003 event.

In fact, the expo centre put the two newly-built halls into use especially for this very fair in response to the increasing number of exhibitors from home and abroad, according to officials from the Shanghai Municipal Foreign Economic Relations and Trade Commission, a major organizer of the fair.

The stalls in the fair have increased from 2,966 in 2003 to this year's 4,158, an increase of over 40 per cent.

The stalls rented by foreign exhibitors enjoyed the quickest increase rate when compared with stalls rented by Chinese exhibitors, with a rise surpassing 60 per cent.

This year, 168 stalls were rented by 142 foreign companies from 16 countries and regions such as the United States, Britain, Japan, France and Spain.

Commerce Vice-Minister Gao Hucheng believes the increase is the inevitable result of economic growth in the East China region including nine provinces and cities, such as Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Shandong and the cities of Nanjing and Ningbo.

He added that economic growth in the East China region has mainly been promoted by foreign trade and related businesses.

With the increase of the fair's size and the international exhibitors, the number of visitors is also rising substantially.

The International Trading Promotion Co Ltd, another major organizer of this fair, revealed that the number of international visitors this year will see an increase of 15 per cent when compared with that of 2003.

Last year's East China Fair had over 15,700 visitors from 175 countries and regions, as well as 100,000 Chinese visitors.

Gerardo Martinez, the general manager of a Mexican trading company, came to Shanghai especially for attending the fair.

He said that the plastic products made in China are of high-quality and he would try to find his Chinese supplier at the fair.

Insiders pointed out that apart from international visitors, the numbers of professional visitors and those with clear intentions to purchase from the exhibitors are also increasing.

Some of the largest delegations will include world-leading companies like Honeywell, Metro, Carrefour, and Du Pont.

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