The 7th Chinese Hui Merchant Conference for members of the Hui ethnic group opened in the city of Wuzhong, Ningxia Hui autonomous region, on Sept 7, with many business people and guests from China and abroad taking part in.

This year’s theme is "Spreading the Silk Road Spirit, Showing the Charm of Hui Merchants, and Revitalizing the Chinese Economy" and it comes with a special opening ceremony, opening of a local branch of the China Good Agro-products Development and Service Association for Muslim foods, a gourmet Muslim snack festival, a recreational vehicle camping festival, a Ningxia-Taiwan textile seminar, a forum on Ningxia and Taiwan’s tourist agriculture and sightseeing, investment promotions, exhibits of Chinese and Arab commodities, Muslim food trade fairs and Taiwanese boutique products.

Zhao Yongqing, Wuzhong’s Party secretary, introduced the city to the guests, explaining its history and advantages and ethnic and cultural composition and said he hopes the Conference will grow into a trade and cultural brand itself that is known by other provinces in China and even abroad.

Wuzhong, an emerging city with good ecological conditions, stands at the forefront in communications and exchange with Arab and Muslim countries and has been recognized as a national production base for Muslim food. It is also famous for its greenery, and ecological tourism and has hosted the Conference six times since 2008, attracting more than 7,000 people, including senior officials, businessmen from 21 countries and has signed contracts worth 112.5 billion yuan ($17.58 billion) during that time.