33,000 purchasers expected to attend East China Fair in Shanghai

People visit the booth of a toy company during the East China Fair in Shanghai, east China, July 12, 2023. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

SHANGHAI, July 12 (Xinhua) -- The East China Fair, the largest regional trade fair in China, opened in Shanghai on Wednesday.

The four-day event is expected to attract 33,000 purchasers from home and abroad, injecting further growth momentum into east China's foreign trade sector.

The fair has 5,234 booths and a total exhibition area of 105,200 square meters, arranged in six categories: garments, textiles, gifts, home products, overseas products and cross-border e-commerce.

The fair will support foreign trade enterprises in east China to explore the international market, and help Chinese and foreign exhibitors connect with buyers, said Zhang Xiong, deputy secretary general of the Shanghai municipal government.

China's foreign trade is showing strong resilience, growing 4.7 percent year on year to 16.77 trillion yuan (about 2.34 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first five months of 2023, customs data shows.

Amid efforts to stabilize trade and improve its structure, the Ministry of Commerce will make better use of major trade fairs, support trade enterprises to attend overseas fairs, enhance the development of the country's processing trade, and promote the accelerated development of new foreign trade business models, according to ministry official Xiao Lu.

The fair is regarded as an important barometer of China's foreign trade, and is held jointly by nine provinces and cities in east China, including Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shandong.