Canton Fair, New Functions Perform In the New Era——Interview with official of China Foreign Trade Center

Sponsored by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (formerly known as the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation), the Chinese Export Commodities Fair, or Canton Fair, is held in April and October every year in Canton city, Guangdong Province. All domestic general import and export companies, as well as their provincial branches, are welcomed to participate. The first Canton Fair was held in the spring of 1957. Many different industries and fields were represented there: rice, cooking oil, food, farming products, textiles, silk, light industry, crafts, the chemical industry, the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry, hardware and ore-mining industry, mechanical industry, electrical industry, and non-ferrous metal smelting, to name a few. The Canton Fair has grown substantially over the last fifty years, and now it has earned itself a reputation as "China's No.1 Fair", and as "China's Most Traditional Fair". In October, 2006, Canton Fair is greeting the 100th Anniversary. The fair has made splendid achievements, especially since the early 1980's when the policy of reform and opening-up was implemented. In September, China's Foreign Trade interviewed leaders of China Foreign Trade Center, the undertaker of Canton Fair. By Editor