Suihua City in Heilongjiang Province has succeeded in luring heavy investment totalling 5.2 billion yuan (US$628.7 million) during the 16th China Harbin Fair for Trade and Economic Cooperation.

Most of the flagship investment projects of Suihua are plants grown on the area's unique black soil resources.

After visiting the city's exhibition booths, some Australian, Japanese and the Republic of Korea's companies showed great interest in these products and signed investment contracts with local firms.

An Australian firm purchased 36 kinds of black soil plants during the fair and planned to establish long-term strategic co-operation with a local firm.

Eyeing the city's unique resources, the Cuba Commercial Counselor had lengthy discussions with leaders of the municipal government and planned to pay a visit to the city.

Yu Shayan, mayor of the city, said it attached great importance to investment promotion activities and had done much preparation.

At the beginning of this year, the city launched comprehensive research programmes into different investment promotion projects and chose the "largest and the most unique ones" to exhibit during the fair, which "has resulted in success," said Yu.

They set up 15 exhibition booths, covering 220 square metres. The major exhibition booths included three showcasing the achievements in revitalizing the area's traditional industrial bases, six exhibiting green food products and four textile products.

About 80 top local products were on show during the fair.

"As the fair continues to expand its overseas influence, this year's trade fair offered huge commercial opportunities to Suihua. With more foreign investment to be injected into the city, the city's international profile has been raised," she added.

Besides luring investors, Yu said the city had gotten to grip with more state-of-the-art patented technology and information.

"We will make in-depth analyses and studies on them, and if possible and feasible, we will introduce them to local firms to help them upgrade their technology," she added.

Concerning trade to Russia, the city's long-term trading partner, Yu said the city had made committed efforts to upgrade its trade structure, and had launched more projects involved in planting, breeding, labour transfers and agricultural food processing, in a bid to expand its market presence in Russia and grab more market share in that country.