The Sixth China Flower Exposition opened on Wednesday in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province.

Florists from 31 Chinese regions as well as the United States, Italy, Singapore and more than 40 other countries are attending the show, which is jointly hosted by the Chinese Florist Association and the Sichuan Provincial Government.

The organizers expect more than 1.2 million people will visit the 10-day event.

China's floral industry has bloomed in recent years. Flower farms totaled 334,500 hectares in 2002, the industry raking in sales volume of about 29.4 billion yuan (US$3.5 billion).

The first flower exposition was launched in 1987 and is held every four years.

(Xinhua News Agency September 29, 2005)