Bonsai Show

Southwest lures foreign funding Investment grows

By Wu Jiachun and Zhao Shaoqin

KUNMING _ What happened during the '99 Kunming Export Commodities Fair?

   The region's foreign investment flow increased, but the number of trade contracts slipped from last year.

The five-day fair, which ended on Thursday, clinched investment and trade contracts worth US$1.83 billion, a 0.6 per cent rise over last year's fair, Shao Qiwei, Yunnan's vice-governor and deputy director of the fair's organizing committee, said.

   Sixty-five contracts worth US$1.2 billion in contracted foreign capital were signed, up 53 per cent from last year, Shao noted.

Several large projects,including Lanping lead and zinc mine and Dachaoshan Hydropower Station in western Yunnan _ attracted huge investments from Europe, the United States, Southeast Asia, as well as Hong Kong and Taiwan.

"The sound momentum indicates Southwest China has become a strong magnet for foreign investors, due to its abundant resources," Shao said.

The import and export volume of general trade, due to the lingering negative impact of the Asian financial turmoil, slumped 56.1 per cent to US$420 million.

Exports dipped 51.7 per cent to US$350 million, while imports plunged 69.8 per
cent to US$70 million.

However, border trade increased 47.9% to reach US$108.1 million, of which exports rose 31.1% to US$58.56 million and imports jumped 75 per cent to reach US$49.53 million.

    Twenty-eight contracts, involving international contracted engineering and labour co-operation, were worth US$93.77 million, up 28.8 per cent from last year's fair, Shao said.

    The annual Kunming trade fair plays a key role in promoting Southwest China's
foreign trade and economic cooperation. The first fair was held in 1993. The
business volume of the seven fairs is US$11.2 billion.

The fair has greatly helped enhance  Yunnan's opening process, which has lagged behind some other areas in China.

The number of foreign-fundedenterprises in Yunnan soared from 71 in 1992 to 1,720 last year. Yunnan's contracted foreign capital was US$2.1 billion by the end of last year.
Enterprises from 28 provinces,municipalities and autonomous regions, and 18 countries and regions, participated in the trade fair.

The fair featured six specialexhibitionhalls highlighting large machinery, electronics, tobacco, food and medicine and local and livestock products, metals and chemical and mineral products, and textiles and light industries.

The fair was sponsored by Sichuan, Guizhou and Yun-nan provinces, the Guangxi Zhuang and Tibet autonomous regions, Chongqing Municipality and Chengdu, capital of Sichuan.

( Photo: Guangxi Singing and Dancing Troupe thrills audiences during the Guangxi theme week.By Yang Shizhong )

Overseas Companies Eye Horti-Expo

KUNMING, May 25 -- Foreign participants in the current '99 World Horti-Exposition are seeing in it a good opportunity to exhibit their advanced horticultural technology and equipment as well as food of different flavors.

The horti-exposition, which is going on in Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, begins on May 1 and ends on October 31.

Companies from such major horticultural powers as France and the Netherlands hope to increase their exports of horticultural technology and equipment and floral products to the host country.

Delegations from Finland are displaying their advanced technology and equipment in environmental and telecommunication fields.

Meanwhile, more than 20 countries plan to sell local specialties at the expositon and eight foreign countries including Germany, the United States and Pakistan, have opened restaurants to offer visitors special cuisine.

Trade fair popular with enterprises

All stands at the Kunming International Trade Centre, host of the upcoming Kunming Export Commodity Trade Fair '99, have been booked by exhibitors from home and abroad, said Shao Qiwei, vice-governor of Southwest China's Yunnan Province.

The Kunming International Trade Centre offers 1,603 stands. However, so far, 2,300 businesses have submitted their applications to attend the fair, according to the China Daily on May 24.

The five-day event will run from June 6 to 10.

Six areas will be dedicated to exhibiting heavy machinery, electronics and electrical appliances, textile and light industry products.

In addition, special stands are reserved for attracting foreign investments and promoting overseas trade.

Foreign enterprises will have a special hall for their products.

Shao said corporations, popular with foreign investors, have booked stands for business talks during the event.

Many delegations from Chinese provinces and cities, and enterprises from 13 countries and regions, such as America, Japan, France, Australia and Hong Kong, will attend the fair.

During the fair, six provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in Southwest China will hold a convention focusing on the economic co-ordination among them. The Kunming Export Commodity Fair, co-sponsored by Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou provinces, the Tibet Autonomous Region and the Chongqing Municipality, has been held every August
since 1993, but from this year's fair and on, the event will take place in June.

Trade fair opens

     Chinese Vice-Premier Qian Qichen will attend the '99 China Domestic Tourism Trade Fair to be held in Kunming from May 18 to 22.          

      Co-sponsored by China National Tourism Administration and the Yunnan provincial government, the trade fair will be held at the Kunming International Trade Centre and will have more than 1,300 booth.

     According to sources with the local tourism
administration, the fair has received 6,250
applications from exhibitors all over the country.            

Fashion fair to be held in Kunming

Taking advantage of the '99 Kunming International Horticultural Exposition, Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province, vows to build itself into Southwest China's fashion capital. It was announced last Friday that Kunming Fashion '99, a major supporting activity of the exposition, will be staged from July 22 to 26 at the Kunming International Trade Centre.
    
According to Xie Peiji, manager of the trade centre and leading organizer of the activity, the large-scale fashion exhibition might become an annual activity from now on. (China Daily News)

Horti-Expo Serves as Powerhouse for to Yunnan's Economy

KUNMING, May 3 (Xinhua) -- The China '99 Kunming International Horticultural Exposition, which opened here Saturday, is expected to serve as a driving force for Yunnan's economy, making it a star in central and western China.

Provincial statistics show that Yunnan's investment in fixedassets totaled 8.046 billion yuan in the first quarter of this year, up 40.4 percent from the same period of last year. The growth rate almost doubles the national average.

Officials from the provincial statistics bureau said the Expo '99 has given a big push to the provincial economy. To host the world garden show, Yunnan has so far injected more than 20 billion yuan into infrastructure projects.

The first world exposition China has ever hosted, the 184-day event is attended by 95 countries and international organizations
and expects to attract ten million visitors.
"The Expo '99 benefits at least the following areas. It can help build up its image in the world and facilitate further opening-up of the province; it is conducive to implementing the sustainable development strategy, fostering pillar industries, propelling provincial economy, improving city infrastructure, and upgrading social morale," according to Provincial Governor Li Jiating.

"Yunnan has seized this unprecedented opportunity for development at the turn of the century amid mounting competition in provincial economic development." he added.

The opening of the Expo '99 has made Yunnan a focus of media coverage at home and abroad, and more than 2,000 reporters converged into Kunming to cover the garden show.

City infrastructure and citizens' quality also received a great boost from the opening of garden show. This capital city of Yunnan has allocated about ten billion yuan in order to put on its best face for the horticultural show.

Yunnan also mapped out plans for developing biological industry and tourism, striving to bring the industrial output value to some
ten million yuan for the two sectors.

Economists pointed out that Expo '99 has done a lot to stimulate Yunnan's economy, and is also expected to stimulate the development of central and western China as a whole.

Despite its abundant resources of animals, plants and minerals, Yunnan still has an impoverished population of more than three
million, about one tenth of the nation's total.