Pazhou Exhibition Hall, the venue for the China Import and Export Fair. According to the organizers, the number of categories for imported goods exhibited at the latest fair has been reduced to seven from 12 last year. [Photo / China Daily]

Number of domestic buyers will reach 3,019 at Canton Fair in Guangzhou

GUANGZHOU - China's imports are expected to get a boost during the 109th China Import and Export Fair, the country's largest trade exposition.

And the number of domestic buyers targeting imported goods will hit a record high, Liu Jianjun, spokesman for the fair, said on Thursday.

Held biannually since it began in 1957, China Import and Export Fair, also known as Canton Fair, opens in Guangzhou on Friday.

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"The number of domestic purchasers, who intend to buy imported goods from foreign-registered sellers, will reach 3,019 during this session, 2,991 more than in 2010 and the largest number for five years," said Liu.

He said that the import volume will witness an obvious increase and the fair will help further fuel China's imports over the next five years, as the fair is seen as a key barometer of China's trade development.

According to Liu, the trade volume of exports transacted during Canton Fair last year amounted to $70 billion, accounting for 4.4 percent of China's total export volume in 2010.

The fair was previously export-oriented and foreign companies were only invited to participate for the first time five years ago.

"We have seen an improvement in import deals in recent years and the import trade volume will be announced once the fair has ended," Liu said.

According to China Foreign Trade Center, which is organizing the fair, 534 enterprises from 53 countries, including the Netherlands, Turkey and Malaysia will showcase their products at the imported goods zone.

"In order to boost import deals and achieve complementation of imported and exported goods, the categories of imported goods exhibited during this session has reduced to seven from 12 last year," Liu said.

He said the exhibition, consisting of electronic and household appliance products, building material, hardware products, agriculture, medical and healthcare goods, and is tailored to China's industrial upgrade and economic transformation to a more domestic consumption-oriented, will be the mainstay of the imported goods exhibition.

"The main target of the fair this year is to help transfer the development mode of China's foreign trade from volume distension to quality enhancement," Liu added.

China's monthly trade surplus reached a record high in the latter half of last year and since then the country has initiated moves to boost imports as a method of balancing trade.

Earlier this month, China reported its first quarterly trade deficit in seven years, registering a shortfall of $1.02 billion in the first quarter, compared with a surplus of $13.9 billion last year. It was the first deficit since the first quarter of 2004 when one of $8 billion was reported.

According to the General Administration of Customs, imports rose by 32.6 percent to $400 billion in the first quarter of 2011, while exports increased 26.5 percent to $399 billion.