The preparation meeting for the 109th Canton Fair was held in Hangzhou today.
The 109th Canton Fair, splitting into 3 phases as the previous sessions, will be held from April 15 to May 5 this year. Among the 58,000 exhibition booths, 57000 are for export, an increase of 1300 booths over the previous session.
The meeting pointed out that this year is the first year of "The Twelfth Five-year Plan" while the international financial crisis still has negative influence and the world economy is facing a profound adjustment. From now on, China will maintain steady growth of foreign trade, seek trade balance through increasing imports, expanding foreign investment and adjusting structure, and promote its changing into a trade power from a big trade country through changing mode, adjusting structure, promoting co-ordination".
According to the Ministry of Commerce, China's total imports and exports in 2010 will reach 2.9 trillion, an increase of 30%.
Zhong Shan, Vice Minister of Commerce, and Gong Zheng, Vice Governor, attended the meeting and gave speech.