With the Second China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industry
Fair (ICIF) less than four weeks away, a working committee was
established Friday involving top government leaders to ensure the
expanded fair is a resounding success.
During the inaugural meeting Friday, Mayor Xu Zongheng urged
government departments and other entities involved, along with the
general public, to fulfill their responsibilities in preparing for
a successful and first-rate fair.
"The fair will be a second name card of the city after the China
Hi-Tech Fair and a window showcasing China's cultural products to
the world," Xu said, urging all levels of government in the city to
spare no effort on building on the success of the first ICIF held
in 2004.
Deputy Party chief Li Yizhen was appointed head of the working
committee with Liu Yingli and Yan Xiaopei, vice mayors, his
assistants.
The nine exhibition halls covering a total area of 105,000
square meters have been booked by 1,071 exhibitors, among whom 98
are from overseas.
So far, some 20,000 Chinese professionals and more than 1,300
foreigners have registered to attend the fair.
Xu also urged the formation of an ad hoc office during the fair
for product safety and intellectual property rights protection to
prevent faked and inferior-quality products from being displayed at
the fair.
The Web site of the fair, www.cnicif.com, has proved to be an
important channel for soliciting visitors, with more than 1,800
professionals registering online one month before the opening of
the fair.
The professionals from 23 provinces in China and 11 overseas
regions and countries are senior or middle-level managers in almost
all fields in the cultural industry, such as design, handicraft,
media, filmmaking, computer games, printing and recording,
performance and entertainment, the fair organizers revealed.
The organizers also launched multi-language services on another
Web site www.icif.china.cn, which attracted a lot of foreign
visitors.
The arts festival specially designed to accompany the fair
kicked off with a Henan Opera titled "Orphan Saved" by Cheng Ying,
which was performed at Shenzhen Grand Theater on Friday.
The arts festival will last four months and become an annual
fixture of the ICIF.
(Shenzhen Daily April 24, 2006)
