Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

Good evening!

I am very glad to meet all of you here today in the beautiful city of Chicago. I would like to take this opportunity to extend my heartfelt thanks to you for your great contributions to enhancing mutual understanding and friendship between the Chinese and American Peoples and promoting trade and economic cooperation of our two countries over the years.

Ladies and gentlemen, China has been practicing the reform and opening up policy for almost 30 years. The modernization drive has scored great achievements. Our national economy and other social undertakings have been developed continuously. China has kept close trade ties with other countries and regions in the world. According to the statistics of China Customs, China¡¯s import and export volume in 2006 reached 1.76 trillion USD, increased by about   24£¥ year on year, in which the import volume totaled at 800 billion USD, up by 20% year on year. The development of China has provided the world with broad market prospect and created more opportunities for common development of countries and regions in the world, including the US.

Inaugurated in 1957, the Canton Fair is sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce of China and People¡¯s Government of Guangdong Province, and organized by China Foreign Trade Centre. It is also called the ¡®Canton Fair¡¯ because it is regularly held in every April and October in Guangzhou (or Canton). The Canton Fair was a great innovation through which the New China explored ways to expand foreign trade and open up to the outside world. The Canton Fair has served as the bridge between Chinese enterprises and the global market and a showcase through which the world learns about China, as well as a platform for international cooperation. The past five decades witnessed the development of the Canton Fair to be the second largest exhibition in the world, with a total exhibition area of 600,000 square meters. In recent years, the Canton Fair has attracted almost 400,000 professional buyers from more than 200 countries and regions for its two sessions every year, with the total business value accounting for 20% of the annual export of general merchandise. Renowned as the ¡¡ãvane and weather-glass¡¡À of China¡¯s foreign trade, the Canton Fair plays an irreplaceable role in China¡¯s foreign trade and has been recognized as ¡¡ãa Road to Friendship and a Bridge to Trade¡¡À in international business community.

The Canton Fair attaches great importance to the quality of enterprises and products.
It adopts a Qualification System so that only the most outstanding enterprises and products can be exhibited at the Fair. At present, every session of the Fair has the participation of over 14,000 Chinese exhibitors. These exhibitors are strictly chosen from about 600,000 Chinese export companies. Moreover, about 5% of these qualified exhibitors will be replaced by new ones for each session.

The Canton Fair attaches great importance to IPR protection.
It sets up a Reception Center for IPR Protection and Trade Disputes, which is responsible for handling trade disputes concerning exhibitors and buyers and complaints of IPR infringement, with a view to establishing a fair and just business environment.

The Canton Fair enjoys great reputation worldwide.
It boasts a non-stop 100 sessions in 50 years, which is not commonly seen in the world. Attending the Canton Fair, which is a miniature of Chinese economic development, is like walking into the huge Chinese market. The accumulative number of overseas buyers amounted to 4 million, and the accumulative purchase volume reached over 550 billion USD.

The Canton Fair upholds the service concept of putting people first.
It provides all-dimensional services from buyer invitation, information consultation, hotel reservation, on-site service to business travel arrangement. China Foreign Trade Centre, the organizer of the Canton Fair, is directly under the Ministry of Commerce of China. We will provide the biggest and best exhibition platform for all of you.

Ladies and Gentlemen, in Oct 2006, the Premier of the State Council of China, Mr. Wen Jiabao announced, on behalf of Chinese government, that the Canton Fair would be renamed China Import and Export Fair as of its 101st session. This decision and the newly added import function demonstrate the great changes of the China¡¯s foreign trade policy. The Chinese government will actively expand import and promote a balanced development of import and export. The 101st session will add an International Pavilion which will be enlarged in the future sessions. We welcome participation of enterprises from all countries and regions, including the US. Once relevant conditions mature, we can also hold a special exhibition for American products. This best exhibition resource of China can best facilitate products from other countries and to enter the Chinese market.

The US is the biggest developed country in the world, which has advanced science and technology, competitive products and great market demands. China is the biggest developing country, which is endowed with rich human resources, a huge market and improving investment environment. The economies of the two countries enjoy great complementarities, extensive common interests, and broad cooperation space. Over the past 28 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the US, our bilateral trade and economic ties have developed rapidly, resulting in a historical leap forward compared to the time when the diplomatic ties were first established. Our bilateral trade volume increased by more than 100 times to 262.7 billion USD in 2006 from less than 2.5 billion USD in 1979.

China has become the second largest partner and the fastest growing export market of the US. The US is China¡¯s second largest growing export market of the US. The US is China¡¯s largest trading partner and biggest export market. The fast development of economic and trade cooperation between China and the US has brought about tangible benefits for the two peoples and serves as one of the driving forces of the world economy.

Ladies and Gentlemen, China is committed to building a harmonious society along the road of peaceful development, mutual benefit and win-win cooperation. In the coming 5 years, China will have an import market with 4-5 trillion USD for you to explore. China is a huge and open market. Its development is an opportunity for the world and our common development. We welcome you to showcase your products with comparative advantages in the Canton Fair. It is the clear and firm objective of China to pursue a balanced trade development; and it is clear and certain that China will remain the fastest growing export market of the US. I firmly believe that the American products enjoy a broad market in China. Dear friends, let¡¯s meet in Guangzhou, China in 2007 and in every year to come.

Last but not least, I wish you a thriving businesses and good health!

Thank you!

(Zhang Zhigang:
Chairman of the Council of China Foreign Trade Centre
Deputy Director of China Import and Export Fair)