2012

The eighth ICIF opened in the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center on May 18, 2012.

Liu Yunshan, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, secretary -general of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and head of the CPC Publicity Department; Sun Zhijun, vice-minister of the CPC Publicity Department; Qiu Hong, Party member and minister to the assistant of the Ministry of Commerce; Tian Jin, vice-directer of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television; Liu Binjie, director-general of General Administration of Press and Publication; Jiang Jianguo and Sun Shoushan, deputy directors of the General Administration of Press and Publication; Wan Jifei, chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade; Wang Yang, secretary-general of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee; Zhu Xiaodan, governor of the Guangdong provincial government; Wang Rong, secretary-general of the Shenzhen municipal Party committee; and Xu Qin, mayor of Shenzhen, were on hand at the opening ceremony.

The eighth ICIF had 40 sub-venues. The number of exhibitors of the main exhibition halls reached 1,928. It was the third time that governmental delegations from all provinces, municipalities and regions of the Chinese mainland, as well as Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, attended the ICIF.

A total of 16,081 overseas buyers from 95 countries and regions were invited to the fair, an increase of 4,000 compared with that in 2007. The total turnover of the eighth ICIF amounted to 143.55 billion yuan ($22.98 billion), among which the contractual turnover achieved 87.71 billion yuan, accounting for 61.10 percent of the total, an increase of 46.07 percent year-on-year.

The turnover of intended deals was 48.69 billion yuan, which was 33.92 percent of total turnover.

In December, the derivative fair of the ICIF, the Winter Arts & Crafts Expo of the eighth China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair, was held, gaining sound social and economic effects

In the same year, the ICIF was awarded as a Pioneering Unit in the Work of National Cultural Structure Reform by the CPC Publicity Department; Ministry of Culture; State Administration of Radio, Film and Television; and General Administration of Press and Publication.