The 7th WCIF was co-sponsored by the Office of the Leading Group for Western Region Development of the State Council, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, All-China Federation of Industry & Commerce, and All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives, and held in Chengdu, Sichuan from May 25-28, 2006.
Themed Opening-up, Cooperation, Win-Win and Development, the 7th WCIF set records in terms of the level, exhibition scale and economic and trade achievements. Wu Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and vice premier of the State Council, was present at the opening ceremony and delivered a speech.
TIN Naing thein, Minister of Commerce of Burma, Sergey Razov, the Russian Ambassador to China, Mr. Mikhail Ukleba, Ambassador of Georgia to China, Yehoyada Haim, Ambassador of Israel to China, Wayne McCook, Ambassador of Jamaica to China, Mr. Werner Hans Lauk, minister of Germany to China, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, Pisanu Rienmahasarn, undersecretary of the Ministry of Commerce of Thailand, deputy commissioner of Russian Customs Administration, governors of three states of Russia, prefectural magistrates of six prefectures of Thailand, Lee Han-dong, former premier minister of South Korea, and other distinguished guests were present at the fair.
Xu Shaoshi, deputy secretary-general of the State Council, Gao Hucheng, Vice Minister of Commerce, Cao Yushu, deputy director of the Office of the Leading Group for Western Region Development of the State Council, Yu Ping, vice chairman of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Li Xiaolin, vice chairman of The Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, Wang Yiming, vice chairman of All-China Federation of Industry & Commerce, Yu Peishun, deputy director of All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives and other leaders were present at the fair.
The New International Convention & Exposition Center ? Chengdu Century City was launched for the first time for the fair. Nine professional halls were set up, namely the International Hall, Industry Hall, Modern Transport Hall, Urban-Rural Integration Building and Commercial Property Hall, Tourism, Culture & Food Hall, Education & Exchange Hall, Healthcare Hall, Investment & Finance Hall, Fashion Life Hall. The fair saw 3,400 exhibitors at an exhibition area totaling more than 60,000 square meters; of that, the open booths accounted for more than 70%. It attracted 18,000 businesspersons, 22,000 professionals, more than 250,000 visitors, including more than 20 minister-level officials, ambassadors of six countries, consul generals of eight countries, commercial counsellors of seven countries, and 103 government and business delegations from international economic organizations, the US, Russia, Germany, Britain, Canada, Italy, Netherlands, India, Spain, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.
The 7th WCIF also held 59 programs, including 14 international and overseas economic and trade exchanges, best presented by Sichuan-Russia Economic & Trade Cooperation Week, China-US Economic and Trade Cooperation Seminar, Sichuan International Purchase and Outsourcing Project Fair, Germany Day and Vietnam Day. A total of 45 inter-province programs were held and outstanding achievements were made at Sichuan Investment Promotion Seminar cum Project Signing Ceremony, Western China Forestry Industry Development Summit, economic and trade cooperation and exchange programs of various provinces, and local feature-enriched investment promotion projects of various cities and prefectures of Sichuan. At the same time, seven cities of Sichuan established friendship ties with foreign cities, signed economic cooperation agreement to work with each other to create good communication channel and enhance the bilateral economic development.
At the 7th WCIF, 263 investment projects were signed, amounting to 36.995 billion yuan. Of that, 32.334 billion yuan of investment was introduced from outside of Sichuan; 45 investment agreements were signed, totaling 8,747 million yuan. A total of 148 trade contracts were signed, amounting to 12.76 billion yuan; of that 4.25 billion yuan from outside of Sichuan. A total of 142 trade agreements were signed, amounting to 4.53 billion yuan. The on-site transaction amounted to 528 million yuan.
