This year's annual Chinese commodities fair, the largest in the Middle East, will be held in Sharjah, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), later this month, organizers of the event said on Monday.

The Middle East's largest Chinese commodities fair, jointly organized by Expo Center Sharjah, China Machinery & Electronic Products Exhibition Center, and the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, will be held from November 25 to 29.

Wang Wei, general manager of China Machinery and Electronic Products Exhibition Center, told journalists in Nairobi that the fair is considered to be a major booster for trade between China and the Middle East as a whole, and the UAE in particular.

"Because of great market potential for the Middle East region and China's relatively low labor cost and the good quality and low price of Chinese products, the trade between the Middle East and China is quite complementary," Wang said.

He said that, in the past years, China has made considerable progress and Chinese products have successfully gone global.

"In recent years, the total trade volume between the Middle East and China has been increasing. From 2001 to 2006, the bilateral trade volume increased by 30 percent annually. In the first half of 2006, Chinese exports to the Middle East were valued at almost US$15 billion.

"The Middle East is considered to be one of the most important markets with consumption increasing rapidly and the demand for Chinese goods surpassing our expectations," Wang said.

He added that the annual fair, which was established four years ago, has proven successful and has become a premier Chinese commodities exhibition of the largest scale in the Middle East.

According to Wang, these products are not only of high quality but will also be available at very affordable prices, something that all visitors should take advantage of.

He highlighted that the Chinese government has selected only the most reputable and dynamic enterprises with high quality products from across China to participate in the exhibition.

He said that nearly 6,000 representatives from 2,800 enterprises have attended previous fairs, which also attracted more than 100,000 visitors from 65 countries and regions, including over 82,000 trade visitors.

"Total transacted value was US$1.54 billion," Wang said.

(Xinhua News Agency November 7, 2006)