The 96th session of the Chinese Export Commodities Fair came to an end in Guangzhou over the weekend, breaking new transaction volume records and the number of professional purchasers.

The 48 domestic trade delegations concluded export deals of US$27.2 billion, rising 11 percent from the 95th session half a year ago and 32.8 percent from the 94th session a year ago, representing a record high, according to Xu Bing, fair spokesman and deputy secretary-general.

Citing statistics, he said, 167,926 buyers from 203 countries and regions worldwide attended the fair, up 5.8 percent from the 95th session and 11.6 percent from the 94th session, representing another record high.

Of them, 46.8 percent, or 78,635 purchasers, visited for the first time.

"That indicates that our ceaseless efforts to secure new purchasers worldwide have paid off," he said.

As ever, orders for machinery and electronic products dominated the transactions, with deals valued at US$10.82 billion or 39.8 percent.

Other commodities interesting to the global buyers include shoes, ceramics, decorative goods and glassware.

He said that the purchasers from the European Union, the United States, the Middle East, Japan and Southeast Asia did most of the business.

Deals with European firms were worth US$9.19 billion; those with US firms, US$4.71 billion; Middle East, US$2.78 billion; Japan, US$1.46 billion; and Southeast Asia, US$1.43 billion.

Xu said trade delegations from Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai inked the greatest number of deals.

Guangdong inked deals worth US$3.07 billion; Jiangsu, US$2.46 billion; Zhejiang, US$1.72 billion; and Shanghai, US$1.65 billion.

And centralized purchasing by major international firms played an important supplementary role, he said.

Of the world's top 200 retailing companies, 69 sent their representatives, and six transnational purchasing groups, Central Purchasing and QVC of the United States, France-based Carrefour and Leroy Merlin, UK-based TESCO, as well as Germany-based OBI, did the centralized purchasing.

(China Daily November 1, 2004)