The 101st session of the China Import and Export Fair, or Canton Fair, wrapped up in Guangzhou yesterday, registering trade deals worth a record US$36.39 billion.

The figure was 6.8 percent larger than the combined value of the deals signed during the 100th session, which took place last October.

Xu Bing, spokesperson of the fair, said deals for mechanical and electrical products made up the lion's share, representing a combined US$14.68 billion, or 40.3 percent of the total transactions. Light industrial products, garments and textiles were the next most active sectors for deal-making.

He said most deals were clinched with buyers from the European Union, the United States and the Middle East. Exhibitors from Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Shandong provinces, as well as Shanghai, were the most active on the Chinese side.

European Union buyers did deals worth US$12.09 billion; followed by the United States, with US$5.41 billion; and the Middle East, with US$4.25 billion.

The Guangdong delegation won deals worth US$9.36 billion during the two phases. Zhejiang won US$4.96 billion; Jiangsu, US$3.8 billion; Shandong, US$3.3 billion; and Shanghai, US$1.84 billion.

The 101st session was the first in the Canton Fair's history to include an international pavilion for import commodities. No transaction figures were available for that portion of the event.

Xu said the decision to include import commodities had proved educational, and that the organizers were looking at ways to expand their share in future sessions. However, some foreign exhibitors said their exhibits should have been categorized more as domestic operations.

(China Daily May 1, 2007)