YE SHUANGYU
Vice Governor of Fujian
Upon a golden autumn before the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People¡¯s Republic of China, the 13th China International Fair of Investment and Trade (CIFIT) will kick off on Sept 8-11 in the coastal city of Xiamen, Fujian province.
The 13th CIFIT is sponsored by Ministry of Commerce, and organized by Fujian provincial government, Xiamen city government and Investment Promotion Affair Bureau of the Ministry of Commerce.
The fair is supported by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, United Nations Industrial Development Organization, World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies, China Council for International Investment Promotion, IFC of the World Bank, and governments in municipalities, provinces and autonomous regions and some cities in China.
Investors to this year¡¯s CIFIT, a trade gala in China, will embrace enormous opportunities of the construction of the Western Straits Economic Zone.
In May this year, the State Council released ¡°several opinions on acceleration of the construction of the Western Straits Economic Zone¡±, which is a key decision for the nation to boost regional development and cross-Straits cooperation. It indicated that the development of the zone has been elevated in strategic planning, and has entered a new chapter.
Thanks to the fair¡¯s special feature and growing reputation in boosting cross-Straits trade ties, more and more domestic and foreign investors will ?ock to this year¡¯s CIFIT and seek new opportunities brought by the construction of the frontier zone.
Confronted with such great historical opportunities, we have been dedicated to making greater innovation in organizing the fair, building itself into a brand-name fair in the world and better serving the construction of the economic zone.
First, the organizing committee is striving to enhance the fair¡¯s function to boost international trade.
After more than 10 years of development, the fair has played an important role to help Chinese enterprises go overseas and attract overseas capital into China.
During the 12 sessions in the past years, a total of 110,000 overseas investors and exhibitors have joined the fair, inking 14,000 projects. The combined contract value hit $85 billion. A total of 11,000 domestic and overseas reporters have covered the grand event. So this year, we will continue our efforts to optimize the fair.
Second, we will optimize our service to attract investment.
Not only the ample opportunities, the fair is confronted with new challenges from the financial crisis. As such, the organizing committee will be committed to helping investors and exhibitors to hammer down new contracts and assisting them overcome difficulties in initiating their projects, in a bid to implement the nation¡¯s strategy to boost domestic demand and accelerate economic growth.
Third, the fair will organize more colorful cultural and trade activities to boost cross-Straits cooperation.
As Fujian has strong ties with Taiwan, we will be committed to utilizing the unique advantages and creating win-win success. The organizing committee will beef up efforts to strengthen security, and provide a safer, more convenient and efficient fair for participants. We hope we could use our real action and fruitful achievements to welcome the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the new China.
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