The 102^nd session of China Import and Export Fair will be concluded today.

Mr. Xu Bing, Deputy Secretary General and Spokesman of the Canton Fair, briefed the media the important information of this session of the Canton Fair at the Closing Press Conference. He said that all the participants were deeply impressed by the Canton Fair. The 17^th National Congress of the Communist Party of China opened on the same date as the opening day of the Canton Fair, and China's first circumlunar exploration satellite Chang'e-1 was launched successfully during the Canton Fair. Due to the leadership of the Ministry of Commerce of PRC, the concerted efforts from all relevant departments of Guangzhou Municipality and Guangdong Province, and the cooperation of all the participants, the 102^nd session of China Import and Export Fair has successfully fulfilled all tasks and witnessed smooth progress.

According to Mr. Xu, the Canton Fair has made great achievements in the following aspects: 

Firstly, the influence of the International Pavilion has been further expanded.

About 2,110 exhibitors of 480 enterprises from 57 countries and regions participated in the International Pavilion, which accommodated 849 standard stands. The scale of the International Pavilion of this session was 50% larger than that in the previous session. More strict participation standard and verification ensured the quality of the exhibitors and exhibits. During the fair, a series of 14 promotion seminars named "Canton Fair-A Road to Chinese Market" was held for overseas governments, industrial and commercial organizations, which further promoted communication and understanding among enterprises from home and abroad. Exhibitors were satisfied with the exhibiting result.

Secondly, the number of overseas buyers remained stable.

In this session, the number of buyers from 213 countries and regions was 189,500, decreased by 8.3% compared to the highest level achieved at the 101^stsession, and basically equivalent to that of the 100^th session.

The European buyers reached 41,024, increased by 7% over the 101^st session; the Asian buyers reached 104,417, decreased by 10.9%; the American buyers reached 25,845, decreased by 10.2%, equivalent to the 100^th session; the African buyers reached 12,607, decreased by 22.5%, however increased by 34.4% over the 100^th session; the Oceania buyers decreased by 9.8% to 5,607.

In terms of participating buyers, the top five countries and regions were Hong Kong SAR, USA, Taiwan Province, Japan and Korea, whose numbers of buyers reached 27672, 12102, 9183, 6829, 6717 respectively.

There were 80,393 new buyers, accounting for over 40% of the total. This session of the Canton Fair received 87 famous multinational retailers.

Thirdly, the turnover of export hit a historical high.

The total export turnover of this session reached USD 37.45 billion, which hits a historical high with an increase of 2.9 % over the 101^st session, and an increase of 10% over the 100^th session.

Machinery and electronic products were the main driving forces of the increase. The turnover of machinery and electronic products reached USD 15.62 billion, accounting for 41.7% of the total, and increased by 6.4% over the previous session. Among them, the turnover of household electrical appliances and consumer electronics reached USD 5.26 billion, increased by 19.6%. The turnover of light industry products reached USD 12.18 billion, increased by 0.3%, accounting for 32.5% of the total. The turnover of Agricultural Products reached USD 1.2 billion, with an increase of 3.7%.

Some goods controlled by export tax rebate policy witnessed a slight drop in the turnover, namely, the turnover of clothes and accessories was USD 3.02 billion, 8.8% down; shoes USD 1 billion, 9.2% down, toys USD 0.9 billion, 10.7% down; motorcycles USD 0.29 billion, 30.7% down. However, turnover of some controlled goods remained a momentum of stable growth. The turnover of textiles, furniture and bags & cases reached USD 2.96 billion, USD 1.1 billion, and USD 0.96 billion, increased by 6.1%, 9.5% and 10.5% respectively. 

The turnover of European and American Regions increased stably. EU, US, and the Middle East were still the Top 3, with the turnover of USD 12.95 billion, USD 5.83 billion and USD 4.42 billion, increased by 7.1%, 7.8% and 3.9%, accounting for 34.6%, 15.6% and 11.8% of the total turnover respectively. Some of the Asian countries had a greatly increased turnover, Korea had a turnover of 0.83 billion USD, with an increase of 20.5%, moreover, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan had the turnover increased by 96.3%, 63.5% and 57.4%.

Turnover achieved by trade delegations from coastal provinces kept ahead. Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shandong and Shanghai took the top 5, with a trade turnover of USD 9.73 billion, USD 4.91 billion, USD 3.95 billion, USD 3.18 billion and USD 1.88 billion respectively. Turnover achieved by 10 provinces and cities in East Part of China reached USD 27.76 billion, accounting for 74.1%, with an increase of 2.3%. 

Turnover achieved by enterprises of different types kept increasing steadily. The turnover achieved by state-owned enterprises, foreign-funded enterprises and private-owned enterprises reached USD 13.81 billion, USD 5.63 billion and USD 18.02 billion, with an increase of 4.3%, 1.5% and 2.3%, accounting for 36.9%, 15% and 48.1% of the total turnover respectively.

The enterprises in Brand Zone achieved a good turnover. In this session, the turnover reached USD 9.7 billion, accounting for 25.9% of the total. In phase I, the turnover reached USD 8.15 billion, accounting for 32.6%, mainly achieved by enterprises of household electrical appliances and electronics; in phase II, the turnover reached USD 1.55 billion, accounting for 12.4%, mainly achieved by enterprises of light industry.

Turnover of online transaction increased as well. The visit to the Canton Fair's websites accumulated to 120 million times, increased by 1.9%. The intentioned turnover of online transaction reached USD 520 million, increased by 12.2%, and this increment is 7.4% higher than that of the previous session.

Fourthly, continuously strengthen the effort on IPR protection.

This session has received 595 complaints concerning infringement of IPR. 877 enterprises were complained, and 537 enterprises were confirmed to be suspected of infringement of IPR. 7 complaints came from the International Pavilion where 6 enterprises were complained and 3 enterprises were confirmed to be suspected of infringement of IPR. 588 complaints came from the National Pavilion where 871 enterprises were complained and 534 enterprises were confirmed to be suspected of infringement of IPR. The number of complaints from the National Pavilion, enterprises being complained, and enterprises being confirmed to be suspected of infringement of IPR, increased by 4.8%, 17.9%, and 18.1% respectively.

According to the newly emended Complaint and Settlement Regulations of Being Suspected of Infringing IPR, five enterprises being suspected of IPR infringement for successive two sessions including Hangzhou Xiaoran Import & Export Co., Ltd., Shenzhen Eternal Asia Supply Chain Management Ltd., Quanzhou C.O.F. Import & Export Corporation, Zhuhai Luck Company, Xining Import & Export Trade Co., Ltd were deprived of participation right for the forthcoming six sessions of the Canton Fair. Being suspected of infringement on more than three IPR numbers, 4 enterprises including Wenzhou Hawai Electron & Electric Manufacture Co., Ltd, Chaozhou Paja Ceramic Wares Industry Co., Ltd.(Joint Venture), Runhua Manufacture Co., Ltd., Anhui Import & Export Co., Ltd. were warned by the Canton Fair.

Finally, continuously strengthen stand management.

This session of the Canton Fair has adopted both the extensive and intensive stand inspection, in which 32 thousand stands have been inspected and re-inspected. 5 enterprises violating stand use regulations were deprived of the participation right for the forthcoming six sessions from the 103^rd session. They are.: Henan Kaida Trading Co., Ltd, Beijing Wasson AN-ZE Bio-Tech. Co., Ltd, Shandong Dongyue Science & Technology Development Co., Ltd, Ningbo Sanmu Camp Articles Co., Ltd, Shenzhen HengChuang GONGYI BAOZHUANG ZHIPIN Co., Ltd. 

At the press conference, Mr. Xu Bing also announced the initial plan for the 103^rd session of the Canton Fair. He said, approved by the Ministry of Commerce of PRC, the 103^rd session of the Canton Fair will still be held in two phases from April 15^th to 30^th, 2008 at both Liuhua and Pazhou Complex, while the Pazhou Complex Phase II will be put into full use. The National Pavilion will be further enlarged, with an exhibition space of 800,000 square meters. Around 8,000 to 10,000 stands will be added to the total number of the 102^nd session of the Canton Fair. 34 exhibition sections will be set up on the basis of product categories such as Textiles & Garments, Medicines & Health Products, Industrial Products, Gifts and Consumer Goods. The International Pavilion will still be held at the Pazhou Complex, from April 15^th to 20^th, 2008, with an exhibition space around 15,000 to 20,000 square meters. The exhibits of International Pavilion will focus on the consumer goods, supplemented by industrial products. For the exhibition pattern, the International Pavilion will be set up on the basis of combination of Specialized Exhibition Zone and National / Regional Exhibition Zone.

Mr. Xu Bing also said that the 102^nd session of the Canton Fair has received great attention from the domestic and international media, which have conducted extensive report upon all fields of the Canton Fair, including the International Pavilion, Intellectual Property Rights Protection, Product Quality, Export Turnover, etc. On behalf of the Press Centre of the Canton Fair, he would like to express sincere thanks to the media for the excellent job they have done and the great support they have given.

                                                                                                  (From Canton Fair News Center)