Zhao Weisui (L), vice minister of the Cultural Ministry, and Zhang Haitao, vice director of the Chinese Radio, Film and TV Administration, unveil the mascot and emblem of the International Cultural Fair in Beijing on Wednesday.

THE first Shenzhen International Cultural Industry Fair has attracted more than 800 Chinese and overseas cultural companies, including big-name Disney, Shenzhen Mayor Li Hongzhong said in Beijing on Wednesday.

The fair will take place in Shenzhen from Nov. 18 to 22.

The main venue would be the China Hi-Tech Fair Exhibition Center, said Li who was in the national capital to promote the fair.

The fair, which will be a biennial event, will be staged jointly by the Industrial Division of the Chinese Ministry of Culture, the Cultural Administration of Guangdong Province, the Guangdong Provincial Radio, Film and TV Administration, the Guangdong Provincial Bureau for Press and Publication and the Shenzhen Municipal Government.

The fair's emblem and mascot were unveiled in Beijing on Wednesday.

In the plan to develop the cultural industry during the country's 10th five-year plan (2001-2005), China is hoping to achieve an annual growth rate of more than 20 percent in the added value of cultural undertakings.

The Central Government expects its cultural industry to contribute 2 percent to its gross domestic product (GDP) by the end of the 10th five-year plan.

The cultural industry had become a major economic pillar of  Shenzhen, contributing 4.73 percent to the city's GDP last year, said Li.

Editor: Wings