FUZHOU, Fujian - This week's China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT) is giving Fuzhou another great opportunity to secure more industrial projects for the city and its province.

Yang Yiming, the city's deputy mayor, said this was the experience after previous fairs held last year and in 2008 played vital roles in the signing and landing of projects.

"The fair, as an annual event, had provided good opportunities to kick off the formal signing of a project," Yang said. "Sometimes, the process of business negotiations will come to a standstill. And CIFIT provided a good platform and occasion to get the project confirmed and going.

"What's more, in such a highly anticipated occasion, the signing will be witnessed by all levels of provincial and ministerial leaders."

Yang anticipated that dozens of businesses in Fuzhou are in negotiation with firms from Chinese Taiwan and many are expected to be secured during this year's fair, which will run from Wednesday to Saturday. "Projects still in negotiation need to speeded up, while projects on the starting blocks must seize the opportunity to start moving," he said.

Yang said that this year, the capital and number of Fuzhou-contracted projects will surpass previous years. The level will be higher than the provincial average, and emphasis would be on the ground on industrial projects.

Information released by Foreign Trade and Economic Office said newly approved large foreign investment projects in Fujian grew substantially in the first half of this year, exceeding $197 million, 77.5 percent higher than last year's period. Foreign investments have reached $1.72 billion.

"Half of the foreign capital of newly approved contracts would have been signed at the previous year's fair," an official from the Foreign Economic and Trade Office said. "Half of the actual foreign capital was also contributed by the previous fairs."

This year's CIFIT will be the biggest platform to attract foreign investment to the country, especially to the West Coast Economic Zone. The fair also brings Fujian a wealth of resources and information flow, and more large projects.

Last year, the Fujian delegation achieved a total of 635 contracted projects, with an investment of $12.06 billion. By Aug 23 this year, 339 projects signed during last year's fair had been approved.

Editor: Tang Zhi