China will keep its promises, made when it entered the World Trade Organization (WTO), that the advertising market will be opened up by the end of 2005, Minister of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce Wang Zhongfu said.

China attaches great importance to the sector's development and it will receive assistance from the government, Wang said at the opening ceremonies of the 39th International Advertising Association (IAA) World Congress in Beijing Wednesday.

He added the congress will help raise the competitiveness of China's advertising sector.

As the largest developing market in the world, China's development will bring about opportunities for the world and make bigger contribution to the world's advertising industry.

So said Vice-Premier Wu Yi in her congratulation letter to the opening of the meeting, the three-day congress, held every two years, has brought together some 1,200 global advertising professionals. They will talk about various issues related to the international advertising industry.

IAA was founded in 1938 and now has around 4,000 members in 80 countries. Its mission, the group's President Michael Lee said during opening remarks, is to promote and facilitate excellence in global advertising.

China's advertising industry has been developing fast in the past two decades, Wu said.

Last year, turnover surpassed 100 billion yuan (US$12 billion), with the field becoming an important sector for the national economy.

The congress will play an active role in compelling China's advertising industry's development and enhancing interchange between China's advertising industry and that of other countries, Wu said.

Lee said the congress can benefit participants' businesses.

"I hope you will all be able to participate in as many of the sessions as possible," he told the gathering.

Paul Springer, with Buckinghamshire Chilterns University and a participant, said he hopes to achieve a better understanding of China's advertising arena.

Doing so will allow him to conveniently exchange ideas with Chinese professionals, Springer said.

Zhang Dexin, general manager of the Tianjin Tianye Advertisement Planning Co Ltd, said Chinese companies can gain close contact with foreign firms at the congress.

"Once we get an idea of how they do business, we can be better prepared for future competition with them," Zhang said.

(China Daily September 9, 2004)