A major trade fair closed in Harbin,the capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province on Sunday, with the signing of the export and import contracts worth of 3.96 billion US dollars, a rise of 18.9 percent as compared to the previous year.

According to organizers of the 16th China Harbin Fair for Trade and Economic Cooperation, export deals clinched at the fair valued 2.26 billion US dollars, 47.7 percent more than that at the previous fair.

The event has drawn more than 10,000 traders from 81 countries and regions across the globe. Government representatives from Russia, Japan, the Republic of Korea (ROK), Singapore, Malaysia and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China, debuted at the fair, an annual event approved by the State Council, or the Chinese central government.

In a high-profile endeavor to boost economic, trade, scientific and technological cooperation with Russia and revitalize northeast China's "rust belt", or a former unlively industrial base, a series of high-level promotions were conducted at the fair, resulting in inking nine major export and import contracts worth of 669 million US dollars.

Values of mechanical and electrical contracts signed at the fair surged to 680 million US dollars, more than tripling that of the previous year. Participants at the fair also attached closer importance to those industrial projects involving high-tech, energy development and the exploitation of resources, widely deemed as a result of the national policy on rejuvenating China's former industrial base in the northeast.

The fair was first launched in 1990 at the joint sponsorship of five Chinese government 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 a total of some 1.1 million business people from all over the world and struck deals worth of 70 billion US dollars.

Source: Xinhua