The 2006 European Union (EU)-Asia Investment Forum is to be held on November 6 and 7 in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province.

A source with the organizing committee said commercial organization representatives from the 25 EU states and a dozen Asian countries would attend the forum to discuss trade and investment between the EU and Asia.

The forum will be jointly sponsored by the EU Chamber of Commerce and China Council for the Promotion of International Trade. The previous two forums were held in Colombo and Bangkok.

A China-EU investment and trade fair will be held two days after the forum with an aim to enlarge cooperation between corporations in China and the EU.

More than 800 small and medium-sized firms from China and the EU are expected to hold 5,000 face-to-face business talks during fair on Nov. 9 and 10, making it the largest such event in the history of Sino-EU economic cooperation.

The Chinese companies cover the sectors of agriculture, tourism, health care, environmental protection, factory equipment, construction equipment, information technology and electronics.

Despite recent trade disputes, China-EU trade exceeded US$200 billion last year and the EU has become China's largest trade partner.

The fair will be jointly sponsored by the European Commission, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the Sichuan provincial government.

(Xinhua News Agency November 5, 2006)