All the projects have been duly approved by relevant authorities and cover almost all trades, including some service trade sectors such as commerce, foreign trade, finance, insurance, telecommunications and tourism which will be opened to foreign investors following China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), said Yao Shenhong, spokesman of the organizing committee.

Different from former CIFITs which mainly focused on attracting foreign investment, this year's CIFIT acts as a forum for two-way investment and trade talks, which include seminars on cooperation between small and mid-sized businesses of China and the European Union and on two-way investment between China and Arab countries, Yao said.

Exhibitions on information technology (IT), automotive and chemical industries is held for the first time in the CIFIT history this year. The number of exhibition booths has fallen short of demand, according to the spokesman.

A number of multinationals, including General Electric, Motorola, Nokia, Siemens, Sony, Exxon Mobil, Du Pont, Ford, Volkswagen and Honda, have their products exhibited during the fair.

Yao said 48 government and investment promotion institutions from 27 countries and regions, 55 chambers of commerce and associations from 19 countries and regions, and 53 multinational corporations and leading companies from 16 countries and regions participate in the annual event.

Mexico, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Nicaragua, and Tierra del Fuego province of Argentina take part in the fair for the first time.

More than 1,100 Chinese and overseas reporters have registered to cover the fair, which jointly held by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, the Fujian provincial government and Xiamen city government.

(Xinhua News Agency 09/08/2001)