DONGGUAN: The Second Guangdong Privately-Owned Enterprises Product Fair opened at Dongguan International Convention Centre in Guangdong Province, with about 520 firms sharing the 700 stalls spread over 12,000 square metres.
Exhibitors range from sectors such as electronic information, textile and garment, furniture and household electric appliances, food and beverage, agricultural and ancillary products, hardware and machinery, porcelain and chemical industry, cosmetics and toys and handicrafts to tourism and hotels, entertainment, printing and paper, automobile and auto parts, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, sports and culture and real estate and building materials.
The first fair was held in Guangzhou.
This year's organizing committee members said the November 8-12 fair had attracted Guangdong's many well-known private enterprises that represent the overall strength of the South China province's private sector.
During the past few years, the private sector has set up many a capital-intensive and technology-intensive large-scale enterprise and consortium, Guangdong's Privately Owned Enterprise Association director Zhong Weiquan said at the opening ceremony.
Guangdong is the country's leading economic powerhouse, in which export-oriented businesses have played a vital role. The private sector has contributed greatly to Guangdong's economic rise, and last year, it accounted for 39.6 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP).
But as industrialization entered its middle and later stages, the limitations of the export-oriented segment were exposed, he said.
So in 2003, Guangdong announced 12 policies to speed up the sector focused on the domestic market. The result was that many private enterprises regained their growth momentum in two years, making the province a leading place for private firms.
Today, Guangdong has 556,000 more private enterprises than Shandong Province and 400,000 more than Jiangsu.
The mainland's largest private electronic information industry group was set up on the eastern bank of the Pearl River, with an output value of 400 billion yuan (US$50 billion). A private electronic machinery industrial group has been taking shape on the western bank, too, with an output value of more than 130 billion yuan (US$16.25 billion).
