The Fifth Shanghai International Industry Fair opened Thursday, strongly signaling the increasingly important role of domestic and foreign advanced technologies in reshaping China's industrial sector.

Over 1,100 companies and institutions from home and abroad have been attracted to the six-day event, held at the Shanghai New International Expo Center, with a total exhibition area of about 62,500 square meters.

Within the scope of its traditional theme of interaction between information technology and industrialization, the event this time is putting its focus on the modern equipment industry, which is in accordance with the ongoing trend of the global manufacturing sector's relocation to China, said organizers.

"We expect the fair to be a platform for technology exchange, trade discussions and the attraction of more foreign investment," said Vice-Mayor Tang Dengjie.

With notable contributions in the areas of technical transfers and equity transactions, deals worth about 43.5 billion yuan (US$5.26 billion) were inked during the fair last year, a jump of 39 percent over figures for 2001.

The Shanghai Technology Stock Exchange yesterday reported that deals worth more than 317 million yuan (US$38 million) were sealed on the first day of the fair.

Organizers have said their long-term aim is to turn the event into something that matches the Hanover Fair, a world-famous industrial exhibition held in that German city.

The eye-catching presence of a slew of big-name domestic and foreign industrial players and institutions, including GE, Baosteel, China National Petroleum Corp and BASF, makes the Shanghai show seem something like an "Eastern Hanover Fair."

On the exhibitors' poshly-decorated stands and pavilions, cutting-edge technologies and novel products in such areas as industrial equipment, electronics, transport and pharmaceuticals have attracted thousands of visitors.

The Automation and Drives Group under German industrial giant Siemens, for example, brought to the event its Exider, a special train filled with what the company says is over 40,000 of the latest automation technologies and industrial solutions by Siemens.

Organizers said over 310 overseas exhibitors, a rise of 12 percent over last year's numbers, are attending the fair.

Apart from the noteworthy presence of overseas exhibitors, the fair also features the presence of a big number of firms from Northeast China, a sign that the region is stepping up efforts to rejuvenate its traditional industrial sector.

(China Daily November 7, 2003)