The United States is one of the major consumers of the province's decorations for the upcoming Christmas Holiday. The province exported 390 million US dollars worth of Christmas related productions to the United States during the 11 months, an increase of 21 percent from the same period last year.

According to insiders, the provincial government has this year taken advantage of the country's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to make concerted efforts to expand its international Christmas gift market.

This year, with the exception of a slight drop in sales to South America, the province's export volume of Christmas products to all other continents rose by an average of 20 percent.

Insiders also point out that, owing to the increasing cultural exchanges in the world, more and more Asians are accepting Christmas as a holiday. Christmas spending, therefore, is growing.

To date, a total of 42.2 million US dollars worth of Christmas products have been exported from Guangdong to Asian countries, including Singapore and the Republic of Korea (ROK).

Guangdong province, which borders Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, is one of China's major manufacturing bases as well as one of the country's principal economic engines.

(Xinhua News Agency December 20, 2002)