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Ningxia to hold Int'l investment and trade fair

By Cai Muyuan (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-07-07 15:19

Wang Zhengwei, chairman of the Ningxia regional government, gestures at a press conference in Yongning county, Ningxia Hui autonomous region, July 6, 2009. [chinadaily.com.cn]

The China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT) will be held in Ningxia Hui autonomous region from August 18 to 23, Wang Zhengwei, chairman of the Ningxia regional government, announced at a press conference Monday at the China Hui Culture Center in Yongning County, Ningxia.

The fair, approved by the State Council, aims at enhancing cooperation between Ningxia and other regions, as well as attracting investors from home and abroad.

CIFIT - jointly held by the Ministry of Commerce, China Chamber of International Commerce and People's government of Ningxia Hui autonomous region - will promote the region's ethnic, commercial and trade development and strengthen cooperation between east and west China, Wang said.

He also said Ningxia's Muslim culture makes the region attractive to businessmen from Islamic countries, as well as Hui Muslim entrepreneurs from other regions.

CIFIT will feature the Fourth Halal Food Exhibition, the Second Hui Commercial Fair and Ningxia-Arab Economic and Trade Development seminar to illustrate the region's ethnic culture and its development potential to business partners, Wang added.

In April, Ningxia built an urban agglomeration on the Yellow River called Golden Riverside.

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The agglomeration - which is built around Yinchuan with Shizuishan, Wuzhong and Zhongwei cities as well as other small towns on its outskirts - serves as the region's major agricultural and industrial base.

Despite the global economic downturn Golden Riverside produces more than 90 percent of the region's GDP. Forty-three percent of the agglomeration's area is urban, containing 57 percent of Ningxia's population.

"We are hoping to see in three years the population along the Yellow Riverside reaching 4 million, accounting for 60 percent of the region, and GDP surpassing 130 billion yuan ($103.64 billion)," said Wang.