“The first involvement of the Ministry of Culture means that Yiwu Fair has been officially promoted to a national exhibition.” At the press conference for the preparations for Yiwu Fair 2010 today, Chen Xiuxian, deputy secretary of CPC Yiwu Municipal Committee, told the press. According to the source, the fair is schedule to be held at Yiwu International Exposition Center from April 20 to 23, then 2,000 booths will demonstrate Chinese and foreign cultural achievements in an all-round manner and are expected to attract over 80,000 professional purchasers, including over 6,000 from abroad. MOC involved for the first time Set up in 2006, Yiwu Fair has witnessed the success of four editions. Through years’ development, the exhibition has become a domestic and overseas famous international cultural exhibition as well as the only export-oriented exhibition in the domestic cultural and sports industry. “The Ministry of Culture decided to host Yiwu Fair in cooperation with the Zhejiang Provincial Government this February, marking that the fair had been promoted to a national exhibition and become a great cultural exhibition and trading platform recognized by the State.” Chen said. The number of booths will increase from 1,500 to 2,000 this year, covering all facets of the cultural industry such as cultural office, sports & entertainment, industrial arts, creative animation & comic and toy, calligraphy & painting and antique, and audio & video and books. “Feedback shows that this edition will attract over 80,000 professional purchases from home and abroad, including over 6,000 professional visitors and over 30 purchase groups from abroad, and is expected to achieve a trade turnover of over RMB 2 billion, over 60% of which will be contributed by foreign trade.” Theme pavilions established for the first time According to the source, to demonstrate the fine traditional culture and cultural innovation achievements of Zhejiang and the country, theme pavilions will be established for the first time this year. “Set in Hall B1, with a total exhibition area of over 8,000m2, the theme pavilions, which include five sectors-lobby, hall of industrial arts, hall of creative animation & comic and derivatives, hall of show and film & TV and hall of online games, will highlight the theme of "creativity, innovation, inheritance and improvement" and demonstrate the quintessence of the fair.” Chen said. According to the source, the lobby will use texts and pictures to demonstrate and a combination of large screens and light boxes to represent the development achievements of the cultural industry in the country and all provinces and municipalities, the important remarks of state leaders on the development of the industry and the latest cultural industry policies. The hall of industrial arts will bring together cultural products like ceramics, carvings, frames, four embroideries, gold & silver & bronze wares and the “four treasures of study”. The hall of creative animation and comic will mainly show creative animation & comic products and derivatives. The hall of show and film & TV will display the latest film & TV productions, books, etc. The hall of online games will attract some Internet giants and interact with visitors. “International cultural product area” added Yiwu Fair has been unique among various cultural fairs in the country for its trading and internationalized features. To better introduce foreign cultural products with local characteristics, create a more convenient and effective platform for domestic and overseas traders and exhibitors and highlight the trading purposes of overseas participation, this edition specially upgraded the original “national cultural exchange area” to the “international cultural product area”. “The previous editions were mostly highlighted by exchanges on Chinese and foreign cultural achievements, while this edition will lay more emphasis on business trade on the basis of exchanges.” Zhu Jingyi, deputy director of the Propaganda Department of Yiwu, told the press that exhibitors from over 10 countries like Japan, Korea, Ukraine and Egypt had confirmed participation, and 80 booths had been reserved. According to another source, the 7th China International Hardware & Electrical Appliances Trade Fair and the 5thYiwu Consumer Goods Fair will coincide with Yiwu Fair. The concurrence of the three distinctive branded exhibitions will achieve resource sharing and create a one-stop exchange platform for merchants.
