Guangdong provincial government, one of the organizers of the ongoing third China International Small and Medium Enterprise Fair (CISMEF) which starts today and ends on September 18, has spared no efforts to develop the fair into an international business gala and a platform for Chinese SMEs to go global, a top Guangdong government official said.

The fair is jointly sponsored by the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Commerce, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, China Banking Regulatory Commission, and the People's Government of Guangdong Province.

"We focused our efforts on four aspects to upgrade the level of the fair and build up a perfect platform for SMEs from all over the world to display, trade and co-operate," said Tong Xing, vice-governor of Guangdong Province.

"First of all, we tried to make the fair a real 'international' fair by inviting as many overseas enterprises as possible to attend," said Tong.

The Sino-Italian Small and Medium Enterprises Fair, which kicks off today, is expected to attract more than 1,000 Italian delegates. Tong is the executive director of the fair's organizing committee.

While many other overseas SMEs, mainly from the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan, Southeast Asia, the Republic of Korea, Viet Nam, China's Taiwan Province, and Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, also swarmed to participate in the fair, according to Tong.

"Second, the organizing committee always plays the role of service provider for all attending SMEs and clients," Tong said, adding that the ultimate goal of staging the fair is to benefit SMEs.

Tong said the third aspect is to improve the layout of exhibition areas.

The 120,000-square-metre exhibition hall contains 4,000 booths. The exhibition hall is divided into nine industrial areas, which include textiles and clothing, shoes, caps, and trunks, toys and craftwork, food and drugs, household electric appliances, electronics, mechanical equipment, furniture and lamps, ceramics and building materials.

According to Tong, the last aspect is to introduce an innovation concept to the fair. To attract as many foreign purchasers as possible, the organizing committee arranged several seminars related to information technology applications and other hot topics.

Fair's history

The year 2006 marks the third year of this event in South China's bustling metropolis Guangzhou. In 2005, 198,000 exhibitors and buyers attended the fair and signed over 23,000 trade, co-operation and investment agreements with a total trade volume of over US$5.3 billion.

Guangdong Province is one of the strongest economies and ranks first in overall economic strength in China. The growth of the province provides its residents with increased wealth and the ability to purchase goods and services from worldwide suppliers.

Guangdong is one of the most developed provinces in China, with sophisticated facilities and modern infrastructure. The 21 prefecture-level cities of the province have access to up-to-date transportation. Six airports in the province serve the growing needs of people and businesses.

Guangdong is among the largest manufacturing bases in the world, with a well-developed industrial foundation. There are some 400,000 industrial enterprises involved in the industries such as electronics, information technology, electric mechanics, petroleum and chemistry, iron and steel, automobiles and lighting.