>>>Related Special:  The 101st Canton Fair

A total of 314 overseas companies from 36 countries and regions will exhibit goods aimed at the Chinese market during the 101st session of the Chinese Import and Export Fair, which opens on Sunday.

It will be the first time foreign exhibitors have been invited to the event, which has been running for 50 years. The previous 100 sessions of China's largest trade fair were devoted exclusively to domestic exhibitors and foreign buyers.

Of the overseas exhibitors, 89 will be from Hong Kong, 42 from Taiwan, 36 from South Korea, 35 from Malaysia, and 19 from the United States, as well as seven from the world's least developed countries, Xu Bing, spokesperson for the fair's organizing committee, said on Friday.

Foreign exhibits will include IT products, household appliances, machinery, equipment, jewelry, hardware, building materials, kitchen utensils, food and agricultural products.

He said the import commodities section will run during the first phase of the fair, from April 15 to 20.

And more than 6,000 buyers from the mainland will attend the fair.

"The government's decision to rename the Chinese Export Commodities Fair to the Chinese Import and Export Fair from the 101st session on, and the move to invite overseas exhibitors reflects the Chinese government's intention to achieve a trade balance with other countries by promoting imports," he said.

According to Vice-Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng, the trade balance in China is likely to improve in the coming months as measures to encourage imports and reduce exports, especially those of energy-intensive and polluting products, take effect.

China's trade surplus for the first two months of the year more than tripled to $39.64 billion compared to the same period of last year.

A total of 7,685 domestic exhibitors will participate in the first phase of the fair and another 6,745 in the second, which runs from April 25 to 30.

Editor: Yan