Despite the prospect of slower export growth, more visitors visited the annual East China Fair, an export barometer, this year before it closed yesterday in Shanghai.

As many as 19,263 overseas buyers visited the five-day fair, a rise of 3.8 percent from a year ago, said organizer Shanghai Foreign Economic Relations and Trade Commission. Visitors came from 145 countries, compared to 117 last year. Among them, 7,440 were new comers, and they made up 38.62 percent of the total.

Deals worth US$3.68 billion were sealed during the fair, a 3.52-percent increase from a year earlier.

Japan was the biggest buyer, followed by the European Union, the United States and South Korea.

Traders will have to face the challenges of a weak US economy suffering from the subprime mortgage crisis, the appreciation of the yuan and the rising cost of labor, Chen Zhangyuan, the commission's deputy director, said.

"To deal with the challenges, Chinese exporters have beefed up efforts to enhance brand-building awareness and differentiate their products to become more competitive. You can notice the changes from the fair," Chen said.

Shanghai Flying Horse Import and Export Co Ltd was one of them. It developed garments made from bamboo charcoal fiber and pearl fiber.

"The products received quite a lot attention during the fair," said Mao Xiahua, a company official in charge of exports.

She said this year more buyers showed great interest in its self-developed products. But still, the firm lowered the export target this year to US$200 million against US$240 million last year.

(Shanghai Daily March 6, 2008)