EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson will attend the EU-China Partnenariat 2006 on Thursday in Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan province, aiming to promote the cooperation between European and Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Along with Mandelson, more than 100 European Union (EU) officials will make cultural exchanges and join trade programs during the two-day event, featuring 5,000 face-to-face partnership-seeking discussions between SMEs of China and EU countries.

The EU-China Partnenariat 2006 is the largest of such events in the history of the Sino-EU economic cooperation with the participation of 514 Chinese companies and 400 European companies, which want to build up long-term cooperation with each other.

A good communication channel is of vital importance to the establishment and development of the economic relations between Europe and China, said Marisa Wyganowski, development and cooperation attach of the Delegation of the European Commission in China.

Chinese companies should take advantage of the opportunities of attending international trade fairs to extend their cooperation with the overseas firms and get into the international markets, said Giorgio Magistrelli, secretary general of EU Chamber of Commerce in China.

"Finding an European partner through the trade fair is the most economic and logic solution for Chinese SMEs to enter the European market,"said Pascal Hermandesse, chairman of Chengdu Board of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China.

The Chamber was formed in Beijing in 2000. It is a non-profit membership fee-based organisation with offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing, Guangzhou, Tianjin and Chengdu.

As the leading exponent of European business interests in China , the chamber's mission is to provide a bridge for cooperation between Chinese and European companies.

The trade fair will be jointly sponsored by the Europe Commission, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the Sichuan provincial government.