HONG KONG: The 105th China Import and Export Fair, a barometer of the country's foreign trade, will test global buyers' appetites amid the economic downturn halting demand.

The organizing committee of the China's top trade fair pledged to spare no effort to attract "as many participants as possible" by aggressive overseas promotion, prolonging the exhibiting hours and advanced IT service facilities.

The fair will run from April 15 to May 7.

"We are mentally prepared for the impact from the global economic recession; we may face decreasing attendance at the fair, but we have the best exhibitors showing competitive products," said Wang Junwen, director general of the China Foreign Trade Center, the organizer of the biannual event.

"The domestic-market demand is still there," he added.

The country's export growth tumbled to 4.3 percent in the fourth quarter last year from 23 percent the previous quarter as demand from all major markets plunged as the financial crisis spread quickly from the financial sector to the real economy.

Export growth to the US, for example, slowed to 0.7 percent in the fourth quarter from 15.2 percent in the third quarter last year, while those to the European Union decelerated to 3.9 percent from 23.4 percent during the same period.

Despite the decrease in exports, "we believe Chinese products are still competitive in the global market with their reasonable price and good quality", said Zhong Shan, vice minister of commerce.

Unlike many other countries, the mainland's exports are mostly daily necessities, so the exporters should receive orders when the buyer's inventory runs out, said Tang Sai-on, chief economist at Bank of East Asia.

"The upcoming Canton Fair might receive fewer exhibitors and buyers, as the buyers might be busy clearing their stockpile in order to amass enough cash," Tang said.

Wang said the organizing committee has been aggressively promoting the fair in emerging markets in the Middle East, Africa and Central Europe.

It also slashed booth charges to lure more exhibitors.

Standard booths in exhibition halls will be 1,000 to 2,000 yuan cheaper than before, Mu Xinhai, a spokesman of the fair said earlier this month.

(HK Edition 02/21/2009 page2)