The figure equals that which was signed at the previous event. Trading has been normal, with no sign that the country's oldest and largest trade event has been affected by the September 11 US terrorist attacks, according to a fair official.

By the end of Saturday, the number of business representatives from the United States had reached more than 3,300, compared with the estimated 4,000 Americans who attended the spring fair.

By Saturday, more than 56,000 business executives from around the world had participated in the fair, which opened on October 15 and ends Friday.

Machinery and electronics, light industrial products and arts and crafts emerged as the best-selling products in the first half of the fair.

Chinese trade officials are still optimistic that they will sign at least US$15 billion worth of export contracts and attract more than 110,000 overseas business executives by the end of the fair.

The 90th session of the fair is jointly organized by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation and the Guangdong provincial government.

It has been known as China's "first fair" and has been a major driving force behind the country's strong exports.

In the last five years, the fair has led to exports worth an average of US$23 billion each year, representing one-third of China's annual general trade.

To enable the fair to continue to play an important role in the country's foreign trade, organizers have promised big reforms for next year.

Organizers of the Chinese Export Commodities Fair are planning to build the semi-annual trade event into two exhibitions held on different days to ensure there are enough exhibition booths.

The first exhibition is scheduled to open on April 15 as it did in the previous year, while the second one is expected to begin on April 25.

Each exhibition lasts six days. Domestic traders will use the four-day break between the two events to re-organize the exhibition halls and display their products once again.

The first part of the fair will focus on industrial raw materials, electronics, machine tools, textiles, garments, food, medicine and health products while the second will display light industrial products, arts and crafts, gifts, office articles and materials for interior decorating.

Other details of the reform will be announced before the end of the ongoing fair on Friday, according to Hu Chusheng, secretary-general of the fair.

The reform is aimed at further keeping in line with international practices and meeting the increasing demands from a growing number of Chinese companies expected to attend the biggest Chinese trade event.

Hu has promised to introduce more advanced technologies and equipment to help upgrade the fair and let it continue to be an import channel for the country's foreign trade when China becomes a member of the world Trade Organization later this year.

More private companies, collective firms and joint ventures will be attracted to the fair in the following years, Hu said.

Many of the domestic traders attending the fair welcome the reform, he said.

Zhu Zenan, deputy director of the Guangdong trade delegation, said reform will help build the 45-year-old fair into a world-renowned event and help domestic companies save money.

Chen Jinrong, a business official from Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, said the reform is also expected to help domestic companies further improve their work efficiency.

"And the reform will certainly offer more exhibition booths and business opportunities for manufacturers from the vast northwest region of China," Chen said.

But some worry that the reform will inconvenience overseas business representatives who have visited the fair for years.

(China Daily October 22, 2001)