The 99th China Export Commodities Fair closed Sunday with deals hitting a record high of US$32.2 billion, up 9.5 percent over the previous session.

 

The 12-day fair, held in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, attracted more than 190,000 businessmen from 211 countries and regions.

 

Business people from the European Union spent US$10.6 billion, those from the United States signed deals worth US$4.7 billion, and buyers from the Middle East bought US$4.28 billion worth of goods.

 

Electrical and mechanical products remained the hottest selling item at the fair, with US$13 billion dollars worth of deals signed, accounting for 40.3 percent of the total trade volume, data from the fair's organizers showed.

 

Deals for clothing, textiles and agricultural products also saw increases at the fair, the data said.

 

Transactions at the biannual fair account for around one third of China's general trade every year. This year's fair opened on April 15 with an exhibition area of 270,000 square meters and 30,058 booths.

 

(Xinhua News Agency May 1, 2006)