The hall devoted to innovations has proved to be the most visited venue at the on-going second China international cultural industry fair held in Shenzhen, a boomtown in south China's Guangdong Province.

In the hall, 146 domestic and overseas companies involved in construction, handicraft, fashion designs, graphic designs and packaging designs sit side-by-side hoping to find their future cooperation partners.

The innovation hall is the second largest of the nine specialized halls offered at the four-day China international cultural industry fair which has attracted 1,500 domestic and overseas exhibitors.

Thursday's opening drew 21,000 visitors, including 3,400 people from overseas, according to a high-ranking official from the organizing committee.

"The goal of this four-day fair is to promote China's cultural products to the world market and the innovations - high-end products from the cultural industry - are crucial to success," said the official.

However, it is a pity that works of some Chinese designers are like on-sale commodities when they are sold overseas owing to a lack of exchange platforms with the international market, said Prof. Yu Bingnan with the College of Fine Arts attached to the elite Tsinghua University in Beijing.

Professor Yu's view was echoed by a woman with Shenzhen Overseas Decoration Engineering Co. Ltd., one of the exhibitors at the innovation hall.

Zheng Xin, in charge of education and training with the human resources department of the company, said her firm had gained several thousands of orders from the domestic market, but had only won five orders from the overseas market in the company's history of 25 years.

"Our company has been exploring the international market with reliance on innovations and designs. What we lack is not the strength, but a platform recognized by the world," said Zheng, whoadded the fair was a good occasion to increase publicity of her company among overseas business people.

Liu Binjie, deputy head of the State Press and Publication Administration, suggested that to go global, the Chinese cultural industry should insist in the principle of brand-names and inspire enterprises to participate in international competitions by way ofmarket means, instead of relying on state financial support.

Ding Wei, an assistant Minister of Culture, underscored the importance of studying experience of other countries in developing the cultural industry.

The fair, which has been declared an annual event starting from this year, is held jointly by five organizations: the Ministry of Culture, the Cultural Administration of Guangdong Province and the State Administration of Radio, Film and TV and the State Press and Publication Administration. The first such fair was held in November 2004.

Editor: Yan