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SCMP Reporter

Shenzhen is poised to raise its profile as the mainland's premier high-technology municipality when it becomes host to an annual hi-tech fair starting this autumn.

 The first China Hi-Tech Fair will convene at Shenzhen's China Hi-Tech Exhibition Centre from October 5 to 10.

 Vice-mayor Guo Rongjun said the fair was aimed at promoting the commercialisation of mainland scientific research and the development of value-added industries.

 About 1,700 domestic and multinational companies, research centres and local governments will participate in the inaugural event.

  This year's event will be the first of what is expected to become an annual affair.

 The fair has received the joint backing of the State Council, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Information Industry, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Shenzhen municipal government.

  'The China Hi-tech Fair will be the [mainland's] third important fair, following the China Export Commodities Fair in Guangzhou and China Fair for International Investment and Trade, which is held in Xiamen,' Mr Guo said.

 Primary activities scheduled for the fair include technology-transfer events, Comnet '99, an exhibition of leading computers, communications and networking products, and a wide-ranging assortment of seminars.

 Displays will include technology applied in electronic information industry, biotechnology and medicine, new materials, optical-electro-mechanical integration, energy saving and environmental preservation and agricultural projects.

 Mr Guo said Shenzhen was an ideal venue for such an event, as high technology had emerged as a major component of the city's economic growth. Last year, Shenzhen high technology contributed 35.44 per cent, or 65.51 billion yuan (about HK$60.92 billion), to the municipality's industrial output.

 The city's proximity to Hong Kong also allowed locally based firms easier access to the expertise of offshore multinationals, Mr Guo said.

 He also pointed out that the city established a special new and high-technology guarantee company to help provide lending to Shenzhen's small and medium-sized hi-tech firms.

   Such activities ensured the future vitality of hi-tech manufacturing in the special economic zone.

 To ensure its hi-tech status, Shenzhen was moving to establish the mainland's first hi-tech fund, which will be capitalised at one billion yuan. Shenzhen has applied to the State Council for approval for the project.



Shenzhen lifts hi-tech standing with new fair