A preparatory meeting for the 2018 China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT) was held in its host city Xiamen, Fujian province on July 25.

The upcoming event’s opening ceremony is set to take place on Sept 8, according to an announcement at the preparatory meeting.

Preparations for the 2018 CIFIT were introduced at the meeting.

Covering an area of 130,000 square meters, the exhibition area of the annual fair will consist of an investment attraction pavilion whose booths now is fully booked and an industrial investment promotion pavilion.

An exhibition area exclusively for the countries and regions along the Maritime Silk Road is to be established in the investment attraction pavilion, where more than 20 countries have so far confirmed their participation.

In addition to the real estate, wine, and cross-border e-commerce industries, the industrial investment promotion pavilion this year will pay more attention to emerging industries, such as we-media and copyright.

The Czech Republic and Yunan province, this year’s country and province of honor, will set up booths of 500 square meters and 1,000 square meters respectively.

The four-day event also plans to organize dozens of forums, including the 23rd World Investment Conference (WIC) organized by the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA) and attended by the Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs), and companies from approximately 100 countries and regions.

Additionally, a total of 30,000 project matchmaking activities are set to be held for more than 100,000 business people from over 110 countries and regions, where approximately 2,000 projects are projected to find their investors.

Mayor Zhuang Jiahan said at the meeting that for the next preparatory work, Xiamen will spare no effort to create a more favorable environment for the fair’s participants by improving its facilities and offering hospitable services.

Zhuang also added that to make sure participants get the most out of the event is another focus of their preparations.

In order to achieve such a target, the organizing committee intends to integrate the project matchmaking activities with the numerous exhibitions and forums.

CIFIT takes place in Xiamen in September every year. Focusing both on investment negotiation and investment policy promotion on a national and international scale, the fair also promotes the development of the national and regional economies in China as well as economic and trade exchanges across the Taiwan Strait.