At the opening of the 39th International Advertising Association
(IAA) World Congress in Beijing on Wednesday, State Administration
for Industry and Commerce Minister Wang Zhongfu said that the
development of the advertising sector is important to China and the
government will support it.
The three-day biennial congress has brought together some 1,200
global advertising professionals to discuss various issues related
to the international advertising industry.
Vice Premier Wu Yi
sent a congratulatory letter to be read at the opening. She wrote
that the progress of China, as the world's largest developing
market, would both create new opportunities around the globe but
also increase the nation's contribution to the international
advertising industry. Wu noted that China's advertising industry
has been developing rapidly in the past two decades.
With turnover topping 100 billion yuan (US$12 billion) last
year, advertising is becoming an important sector for the national
economy.
The congress can help to accelerate advances in China's
advertising industry and enhance exchanges between the domestic
advertising industry and those of other countries, Wu wrote.
IAA President Michael Lee said that the congress can benefit all
participants' businesses.
Paul Springer, of Buckinghamshire Chilterns University, said
that he hopes to gain a better understanding of China's advertising
sector so that he can more conveniently exchange ideas with
professionals in the field here.
Zhang Dexin, general manager of the Tianjin Tianye Advertisement
Planning Co. Ltd., believes it is important for domestic companies
to establish strong contacts with their overseas counterparts.
"Once we get an idea of how they do business, we can be better
prepared for future competition with them," Zhang said.
Under China's World Trade Organization commitments, its
advertising market will open by the end of 2005.
The IAA was founded in 1938 and now has around 4,000 members in
80 countries. Its mission is to promote and facilitate excellence
in global advertising.
(China Daily September 9, 2004)