The 101st China Import and Export Fair plays an important role in China's bid to harmonize its import and export balance, a leading official of the fair's organizing committee said.

"The fair, after the debut of the international import pavilion in this session, provides a better platform for two-way trade development for China, and I believe all exhibitors and buyers from home and abroad will achieve win-win results," said Liu Shanzai, vicedirector of the Canton Fair organizing committee.

Liu, former vice-minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, made the remarks after visiting the exhibition in Pazhou
Complex yesterday morning.

He urged domestic enterprises be more active in competing with their foreign counterparts in the global market.

While visiting the booths of the Haier Group, one of China's major home appliance makers, Liu highly praised the company for its efforts in developing energy-saving washing machines.

"Chinese manufacturers should pay more attention in self-innovation and develop more pollution-reducing and energy-saving
products, in a bid to be more competitive in the global market," said Liu, who also visited the electronics and ceramics exhibition areas yesterday.

Liu was accompanied by Guangzhou Mayor Zhang Guangning, who indicated that the southern Chinese city has benefited a lot
from hosting the half century-old fair.

"The world-renowned fair has become an important engine for us to push forward development in trade and tourism as well. And we will make more efforts to improve the city's infrastructure development to better serve domestic and foreign visitors to the fair," Zhang said.

After an inspection of the transportation system near Pazhou Complex, the major exhibition area of the fair situated along the Pearl River, Zhang also pledged yesterday that the city will develop "water transportation" to better link the complex
with urban areas.

The city has recently opened the "water bus" service, but there are no stops near the Pazhou Complex.

"The current transportation network along the Pazhou area still cannot meet the demands of the increasing number of domestic
and foreign visitors. Therefore, the city will open more routes between the Pazhou area and urban centers, and invest more in building docks to pave the way for water transportation,"said Zhang.

Zhang Zhigang, vice-director of the fair's organizing committee, paid a visit to Pazhou Complex yesterday afternoon, where he indicated that more import booths will be opened to foreign exhibitors from the fair's next session.

Accompanied by the fair spokesperson Xu Bing, Zhang visited several booths of overseas companies, including those of the Italy-based Candy Home Appliance Co Ltd and two other enterprises from Nepal.