China’s Int’l trade fair fetches $ 18 bln worth contracts

BEIJING: The 22th China Harbin International Economic and Trade Fair (HTF) concluded Sunday in the capital city of northeast Heilongjiang Province with the signing of 17.82 billion U.S. dollars worth of overseas-related contracts. Domestic trade and economic cooperation contracts were valued at 221.59 billion yuan (33.6 billion U.S. dollars). Foreign trade contracts were valued at 9.4 billion U.S. dollars, including 2.02 billion dollars worth of contracts for garment exports and 1.05 billion dollars worth for oil imports. Russia, which borders China’s Heilongjiang Province, remained as the most active attendant at the fair. Russian companies and merchants occupied a total of 138 of the fair’s 3,000 exhibition booths, an increase of 151 percent over last year’s fair. Two-way trade volume reached about 55.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2010, making China Russia’s largest trade partner. – APP