Over 110,000 traders seek buyers at Yiwu int'l commodities fair

More than 110,000 traders from home and abroad have gathered in Yiwu, a county in eastern Zhejiang Province, to attend the 2008 China Yiwu International Commodities Fair which opened here on Tuesday.

Yiwu Mayor He Meihua said that about 17,000 traders came from more than 130 foreign countries and regions. The fair runs through Oct. 25.

The fair has been held for 14 successive years. It has become one of the major foreign trade platform for both Chinese and foreign enterprises.

The event organizers said that 3,056 enterprises ordered 5,144 booths, which exceeds the capacity of 4,500 booths at the major exhibition hall. Priority was given to more than 2,500 enterprises for showcasing their 15 kinds of commodities, such as stationeries, sports articles, garments and fashion jewelries.

For the first time, the fair opened an international exhibition hall which attracted 27 enterprises from 22 countries, who are seeking Chinese buyers.

Yiwu, 300 kilometers away from Shanghai, is the largest market of petty commodity wholesales in the world where various foreign buyers go to place orders. Such a depiction comes from Chinese Figures Astonishing the World, a special report co-delivered in 2005 by the United Nations, the World Bank and Morgan Stanley.

Yiwu began to develop its commodities market in 1982. At present, about 1.7 million commodities are being traded in Yiwu. More than 1,900 foreign representative agencies are operating in Yiwu, 440 of which were newly set up this year.

China Yiwu International Commodities Fair was initially regarded as a "Temple Fair" for local people to purchase commodities when it debuted in 1995. The fair was honored as China's Best-outcome Exhibition in 2006, and the 2007 Top Quality Exhibition in Yangtze River Delta in China.