Workers are making the final preparations at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center yesterday for the city's big event: the Eighth China Hi-Tech Fair (CHTF), which begins Thursday. All booths will be ready by 10 a.m. tomorrow morning when the nine exhibition halls will be sealed for security checks.

Meanwhile, the CHTF organizing committee will certify products made using homegrown technology and offer free booths for patented products and inventions by around 30 individuals to promote the protection of intellectual property rights.

The highlight of the exhibition, information technology and products on display in Hall 1 feature the latest creations of top firms from China and abroad, like Lenovo, Skyworth, BENQ, NEC and Motorola. "We've brought products closely related to everyday life as well as the cutting-edge technologies for the interest of industry insiders," an employee with Lenovo said. Foxconn has arranged its products in seven categories including robotics, semiconductors, nanotech, and digital products for home use.

Nearly 200 projects from more than 100 companies will be featured in Hall 4, dedicated to the theme of a recycling economy. The most eye-catching booth is from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, with several big rings propped up to represent the concept of recycling.

A 50-square-meter "energy-saving cottage" in the hall is a demonstration of environmentally friendly processes. "There's wind generator outside the room to provide electricity, the roof is equipped with solar-power batteries, and the outside walls are painted with a heat insulation material so that the indoor temperature is 8 degrees Celsius lower than outdoors without air conditioning," a worker at the site said. The energy-saving cottage employs more than 40 environmentally friendly products and technologies, which are available on the market.

In Hall 9, where delegations from domestic and overseas cities are housed, the booth of Dalian, Liaoning Province resembles a giant ocean liner, and Beijing's booth is in the shape of a torch. The Hong Kong booth, which covers 392 square meters, has projects covering consumer electronics, environmental protection technology, telecom, and Chinese medical innovation.

Hall 8 will have a talent fair and Hall 6 is the sole stage for projects under the supervision of the State Development and Reform Commission.

Editor: Yan