The coming 3rd China (Guangzhou) International Small and Medium Enterprise Fair (CISMEF), running from September 15 to 18, will be developed to be an international business gala, and a platform for SMEs to go global.

The Italian Prime Minister and eight ministers and equivalent officials from China and Italy are to show up at the SME Forum, together with directors from related Italian associations and chambers of commerce, announced Lin Ying, Secretary General of the Guangdong Provincial Government in a press conference yesterday (Sep. 11).

The fair has 5,000 exhibition booths, 20 per cent of which have been booked by overseas exhibitors including 800 by Italian exhibitors. And it will be held from Sep. 15th to 18th at the Guangzhou International Conference & Exhibition Center in Pazhou, Guangzhou.

Moreover, China Banking Regulatory Commission will organize a special financing fair during the event to help SMEs gain access to cooperate financing. It is the first time that a special financing fair has been organized during the CISMEF that aims to build a platform for SMEs to overcome their difficulties in development and expansion. A total of 62 banks and 40 finance groups have registered to participate in this special financing fair.

They include 17 State-owned banks, 32 local banks and 13 foreign banks. The State-owned commercial banks include the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China and the China Construction Bank, while the foreign banks include the Bank of America, Bank of East Asia, Heng Seng Bank and Hong Kong-Shanghai Banking Co Ltd.