China's southwestern Sichuan Province is to host the first international investment and trade fair from Oct. 27 to 31 since it was hit by an 8-magnitude earthquake last May.

A total of 208 companies from 13 countries and regions, including the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Thailand, the Republic of Korea and Malaysia, will participate in the event, Huang Xiaoxiang, vice governor of Sichuan, said on Tuesday.

The fair provided projects of investment in the fields of new and high-technology, natural resources development, modern agriculture, cultural and tourism development, infrastructure and service trade.

Huang said post-quake reconstruction projects would be an important part of the event, which was previously scheduled to run from May 25 to May 30.

Investors from home and abroad were welcome to invest in 591 reconstruction projects involving 250 billion yuan.

(Xinhua News Agency September 24, 2008)