The 20th World Hakka Convention is scheduled for October 12 in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, organizers announced over the weekend.

Representatives of the Hakka people, one of the eight branches of China's ethnic majority of the Han people, will gather in Luodai, an ancient Hakka town in the eastern suburbs of Chengdu.

The aim of the three-day convention is to deepen affections and consolidate close contacts. Various business activities to be held in the convention are also expected to attract investment to Sichuan, a key region in China's ongoing drive for development in its west.

The Hakka people, believed to have formed through migrations in the Chinese history, now live throughout the world but still speak largely the same language and retain their distinctive cultural traditions.

The Hakka population is estimated to have reached more than 80 million; Sichuan is home to more than 3 million Hakkas.

The World Hakka Convention, the first of its kind, held in Hong Kong in 1971, has become an influential international fair for Chinese.

Source: Xinhua