>>>Special Report: 100th Canton Fair

A representative from China Post (L) presents the commemorative stamp of the 100th Chinese Export Commodities Fair (CECF) to a CECF representative. The stamp, with a value of 0.8 RMB, will be put into circulation immediately. The 100th session of the CECF, which was the first exhibition to showcase Chinese products to the outside world, was inaugurated on Sunday morning. Photo: Xinhua

The 100th session of the Chinese Export Commodities Fair (CECF), the first exhibition to showcase Chinese products to the outside world, was inaugurated on Sunday morning.

(The Guangzhou Convention and Exhibition Centre was first used as a supplementary exhibition hall in 2003, for the 94th session of the CECF. The Centre is located at Xingang East Road in Guangzhou. Photo: Xinhua/file)

Business people queued an hour before doors opened at 9:00 a.m.A traditional lion dance kicked off the fair.

The fair, which has been held since 1957, is also known as Canton Fair. It's a biannual event held in the spring and autumn in Guangzhou, the business hub and capital city of South China's Guangdong Province. It remains the biggest and is the oldest fair of its kind in China, said a local official. Contracts signed at the fair account for a quarter of China's export.

The 15-day fair has 31,408 standard booths, 1,350 more than the spring session. More than 14,000 businesses will participate a record for the fair.

The exhibition hall on Liuhua Road will feature 452 booths offering medicines and 6,518 booths selling textiles. At the Pazhou Exhibition hall, industrial commodities, including household appliances, electronic products and cars will be displayed at 8,229 booths.

Editor: Yan