Wang Fuyi, vice-director of its executive council, revealed on Friday afternoon that over 40,000 businesspeople, 6,100 from foreign countries, will attend the fair.

The fair focuses on commodity trade, investment talks and economic cooperation, and hosts high-level forums and conferences.

“We set up 9 indoor exhibition halls --specialized in equipment manufacturing, high-tech, building material and chemical, food, medicine and nourishment, textile and sports products, and service trade-- and one outdoor exhibition section. Among the total 2,200 exhibition stalls, 827 are rented by foreign businesspeople from 36 countries and regions.”

Jilin Province adjoins Russia to the east, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in the south and keeps active trade ties with Japan, the Republic of Korea and Mongolia.

Thus, businesspeople from the five neighboring nations are the most active group at the fair. According to Wang, 3,317 of the 6,100 foreign participants and 73 of 116 visiting foreign business delegations are from these regions. Meanwhile, 5 separate business days will be arranged to promote bilateral economic cooperation during the period.

Figures from the local statistics bureau show that the province’s gross domestic product (GDP) reached 361.492 billion yuan (US$45.44 billion) last year. It made use of foreign capital amounting US$1.151 billion and its annual foreign trade value hit US$6.528 billion.

(China.org.cn by staff reporter Tang Fuchun September 2, 2006)