SHENZHEN, China, Nov. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- China Hi-Tech Fair 2012 (CHTF; "the fair") opened on November 16. Lu Yongxiang, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) and the former president of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) announced the opening. Wan Gang, vice-chairman of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the Minister of Science & Technology attended the opening ceremony.
Xu Qin, mayor of Shenzhen and director of the CHTF Organizing Committee, introduced the theme of CHTF 2012 as "Promoting technological innovation and enhancing development quality". The fair spread out over 110,000 square meters in order to accommodate nearly 3,000 exhibitors. Once again, it was a big "family gathering" of all Chinese provinces, autonomous regions and specially-designated cities, such as Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
Innovation was a key theme at CHTF 2012. Some highlights included:
This year, the number of foreign delegations increased by 37.5% over 2011, and the number of registered overseas buyers doubled.
CHTF 2012 provided individualized services to key exhibitors, especially stressing services to micro & small technical companies. The new show designed for micro & small starting up technical firms attracted 44 outstanding contestants to the Shenzhen Section of China Innovation & Entrepreneurship Competition, and some others from the United States, Hong Kong, and the rest of of China. Besides exhibiting at CHTF, they will be offered special services, such as training on entrepreneurship and financing.