The 16th China Harbin Fair for Trade and Economic Cooperation opened on Tuesday in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.

Russia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore and Malaysia and 10 government and trade departments in Hong Kong have sent, for the first time, representatives to the fair.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Zhang Zuoji, Governor of Heilongjiang, said the current session would highlight a higher level of cooperation with Russia in the fields of economy, trade, science and technology, and the revitalization of traditional industrial bases in northeast China.

The fair houses 2,000 booths which covers 76,000 sq. m. The number of overseas exhibitors topped 10,000. A special exhibition hall has been set up for exhibitors from Russia, the organizer said.

The 16th trade fair is jointly sponsored by five Chinese organizations including the Ministry of Commerce, Chinese Council for Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), the Heilongjiang Provincial People's Government.

The previous 15 fairs attracted about 1.1 million business people from all over the world and obtained a combined business transaction value of 70 billion US dollars.

The current fair will run until June 19.

Source: Xinhua