Marine Economy Fair Opens in ZhanjiangChina's " 2000 Marine Economy Fair," opens November 25 in Zhanjiang, the largest port city along the coast of Beibu Gulf in south China's Guangdong Province.More than 5,300 business items are to be presented at this fair, and the total value of the contracts signed so far has reached 6 billion yuan (about 720 million US dollars ), 4.1 billion yuan of which comes from investment, and 2.1 billion yuan from trade items. The fair will provide a good opportunity for the marine economic cooperation among China's coastal regions, promoting not only the marine economy of Zhanjiang City and Guangdong Province, but also that of China as a whole, Chen Lianzeng, vice-director of National Bureau of Oceanography, said at the opening ceremony. The fair is co-sponsored by the Zhanjiang Municipal Government, National Bureau of Oceanography, Ministry of Science and technology, and China Association of Circulation and Processing of Aquatic Products. During the six-day fair, several other marine-related symposiums and fairs will be held. A variety of topics including sustainable development of marine industry, protection of marine sources, and exploitation of the South China Sea, will be discussed by Chinese senior experts. China's marine industry has snowballed since it adopted the policy of reform and opening up in the late 1970s. Having increased by 20 percent year on year, the annual output value of Chinese marine industry reached 365 billion yuan ( about 44 billion US dollars ) last year, 32 times the amount two decades before. Facing both the South China Sea and the Beibu Gulf, Zhanjiang enjoys a 1,556 kilometer-long coastline, and is playing a significant role in developing Guangdong's marine economy. |
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