China’s Ministry of Commerce and the organizing committee of the 2016 China International Fair for Investment & Trade hosted a business event in Guangzhou, Guangdong province to promote the fair, which is to be held in Xiamen  September 8 to 11.

Important progress made in the preparation of the fair was disclosed during the event on April 7.

Diplomats from more than 30 countries and regions attended the event, along with 200 representatives from business organizations and enterprises. 

Li Yong, deputy director of the investment promotion unit under the Commerce Ministry, and Zhang Jianping, leading analyst on international cooperation with the National Development and Reform Commission, gave brilliant speeches to the attendees. 

He Xuebo, deputy inspector from the commerce bureau of Hainan, introduced the business environment in the province and major projects being planned. 

Harley Seyedin, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in South China, Madam Laura Egoli, consul general of Italy in Guangzhou, and a representative from the fair’s sole airline partner, Air China, also spoke at the event. 

According to information released, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the International Finance Corporation and the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies are working with the organizing committee to build the strongest fair in its history. 

The UNIDO will mark its 50th anniversary with a series of events highlighting green development, inclusiveness and sustainability – the core values the organization has been carrying forward. 

Supply side reform, innovation, free trade policies, Internet Plus and cooperative measures against overcapacity will be the talked about at scheduled thematic seminars. 

The International Investment Forum, parallel to the fair, will be organized by the Ministry of Commerce, China Central Television, and the UNIDO, as in previous years. Political leaders, established scholars and business elites will be invited to speak on investment trends in the context of China’s Belt and Road Initiative at the primary session of the forum. Four to six sub-sessions will see participants sharing opinions on raising connectivity worldwide, China’s free trade policies and more. 

Fortune Magazine will organize a forum for political leaders and senior officers from the world’s most influential companies to discuss new ways of generating and managing wealth. 

Other symposiums to take place include the China-Israel industrial and technological cooperation summit, the overseas Chinese investment summit (sponsored by the overseas Chinese affairs office of the State Council of China), the international friendship cities forum (sponsored by the China International Friendship Cities Association), the international crowd-funding forum and the Australia-China business forum. 

A number of organizations have decided to release their research reports at the fair. The UNIDO will release its Africa Investor Report 2016, the UNCTAD will release a World Investment Report 2016 and the China Association of Private Equity will present its research report on global M&A activities in 2016. 

Business organizations and enterprises from 40 countries and regions have already booked exhibition spaces provided by the fair. Italy and Australia entered applications to be the Guest Country of Honor this year. The United States is expected to put up exhibitions and host networking events. Macao will have a 6,000-square-meter space to showcase its business environment and development policies. A Dynamic Macao serial business matching event is in planning. Brazil, Russia, India, Spain and Malaysia will also mount promotional events. 

The fair also functions to promote quality products. At this year’s fair, fine products will be displayed according to place of origin to demonstrate the manufacturing strength of countries and regions across the world. Two special exhibitions will be arranged to show how free trade policies and e-commerce development benefit commercial trade. 

The organizers will keep pushing for the combination of exhibition space and matchmaking opportunities to make direct conversations possible between the suppliers and the buyers. 

Altogether 30,000 projects initiated in China and abroad will be seeking investors at the fair after having passed examination by the fair’s organizers, who select investment projects based on analysis of hotspots in economic growth and needs expressed by prospective participants. 

In total, the 2016 fair will represent more than 110 countries and regions, with 50 of them expected to put up exhibitions. The fair will be a great opportunity for the world of business to come together in the post-crisis period, discovering global economic and industrial development trends.