Services providers, business events and forums to feature at East China Fair

Feng Jianmin / SHINE

Caption: Samples of goods from Japanese companies are displayed at a warm-up event for this year's East China Fair.

Feng Jianmin / SHINE

Caption: South Korean companies show off some of their products at a warm-up event for this year's East China Fair.

The East China Fair, the country's biggest regional trade show, will set aside an area for services providers this year and host more business events and forums, organizers said today.

Fifty booths will be set aside in the area for third party service providers to offer certification, logistics, insurance, and factoring services. The area will also be set aside for e-commerce companies.

The four-day fair, starting on March 1, will also host more business events and forums, and there will be a special event targeting American and European buyers.

Garments, textiles, and home products are the three largest categories of exhibitors at the fair which also includes gifts, modern lifestyle, and e-commerce companies.

The fair is expected to draw 450 foreign exhibitors from 18 countries and regions including Japan, South Korea, and Poland. Last year's fair saw the number of overseas buyers rise 3.2 percent year on year to 22,140, with Japan, the US and South Korea being the three largest sources of overseas buyers.

Turnover at the fair last year edged up 0.28 percent from a year earlier to US$2.3 billion.

The fair, to be held at Shanghai New International Expo, will showcase goods and services from around 4,000 domestic and foreign companies, and set to have more than 5,700 booths, up from last year's 5,670.