The 109th Canton Fair, the largest trade fair in China, ended its first session this year with transactions reaching $23 billion in value, which is 1.85 billion dollars more compared with the first autumn session last year.

Although buyers from Middle Eastern countries declined from 8 percent to 80 percent compared with the previous first session, the session witnessed 107,000 overseas buyers, up 8.4 percent from the previous first session, defying predictions of a drop in visitors, said Canton Fair spokesman Liu Jianjun on Thursday, who is also deputy director of China Foreign Trade Center, the organizer.

It is the first time visitors took up 4 percent of the total, Liu said.

The 109th Canton Fair opened its first session for the year in the southern city of Guangzhou last Friday.

The second session will open on Saturday.

The Canton Fair, or officially known as China Import and Export Fair, spreads over three five-day sessions, twice a year.