Shenzhen Mayor Xu Zongheng invited visitors and investors from all over the world to take part in the China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industry Fair (ICIF) 2006 to be held from May 18 to 21 at a press conference in Beijing on Thursday.

The fair, the second Shenzhen cultural expo, will become an annual event starting next year. It has been China's only State-level cultural expo since 2004, when the first expo was held in Shenzhen.

The fair will open from May 18 to 21 each year since 2006, making it the second regular national fair in the city, after the China Hi-Tech Fair, according to the conference.

The fair will cover 105,000 square meters with 4,500 booths, with the newly built Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center as its main venue.

The fair will also hold activities at Buji's Dafen oil painting village and other areas.

Latest achievements in the sector will be on display during the event and experts from the fast-growing cultural industry will have an opportunity to exchange their experiences.

It will also hold trade fairs on the latest cultural achievements and award innovative cultural products.

Xu said Shenzhen was confident that the second expo would be of higher quality, more influential and larger than the first, given the country's prospering cultural industry and Shenzhen's desirable development environment.

(Shenzhen Daily August 12, 2005)