According to local sources, there will be four exhibition halls with more than 400 business booths at the fair. Business people from more than 40 countries and regions have registered to participate in the fair.

Chenghai hosted a similar fair last year, with an attendance of over 8,000 domestic and overseas business people from 41 countries and regions, clinching business deals worth 430 million yuan (US$51.8 million).

Chenghai, which falls under jurisdiction of Shantou, one of the five special economic zones in China, is one of the country's major export-oriented toy and handicraft processing bases, home to more than 3,000 businesses engaged in processing toys and handicrafts, with employees exceeding 100,000.

The city chalked up 6 billion yuan (US$723 million) in output value of toys and handicrafts last year, of which, 70 percent were exported to earn 100 million US dollars, said local sources.

The fair is organized by China Council for Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), in cooperation with the city governments of Shantou and Chenghai.

(Xinhua 04/18/2001)