More than 2,000 representatives of some 670 enterprises from 16 APEC members and other countries and regions flocked to the Third APEC Medium and Small Enterprises Technology Conference Fair, which opened Wednesday in Qingdao, a coastal city of eastern Shandong Province.

Ma Kai, minister in charge of the State Development and Reform Commission, said in the fair's opening ceremony that the Chinese government attaches great importance to pushing the exchanges and cooperation between small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) of the Asia-Pacific region.

The development of SMEs has been one of "China's important economic policies", said Ma, urging APEC members to take the fair as a chance to promote technological cooperation and industrial restructuring.

SMEs have contributed about 30 to 40 percent of the gross domestic product and about 35 percent of the exports of the APEC members, according to the statistics released by the fair's organizing committee.

Officials and experts suggest SMEs within APEC members should further develop their information technologies to bridge the "digital gap" between them and the developed countries and regions.

Sponsored by the National Development and Reform Commission, the conference aiming to strengthen cooperation and communication of SMEs in the Asia and Pacific Economic Cooperation will conclude on June 6.

Source: Xinhua