The SME bear the brunt of the ongoing international financial crisis, the direct result is the sharp decline of the orders. So, it will be a good choice for them to participate in the CISMEF to promote their products.
Liu Chenguo, general manager of Heilongjiang Chengguo Foodstuff Co., Ltd that once participated in the CISMEF, received the benefits from the exhibition. He said that just a few days after they participated in the CISMEF, they entered into the sales contracts with 6 distributors, representing a total value of RMB12.00 million and accounting for 30% of their national sales value.

From September 22 to 25, 2009, the 6th CISMEF, another great international trade fair, is to be held in Guangzhou, will bring business opportunities to the SMEs. A few days ago, Tong Xing, vice governor of Guangdong Province, briefed reporters at the press conference that this great event is only one international trade fair in China approved by the State Council and sponsored by the “Seven Ministries and Guangdong Province”.

Since 2004, the China SME Fair (CSMEF) has become an annual great event for SMEs in China. Beginning from the 3rd CSMEF, the CSMEF was upgraded to the international fair from the domestic event, called “CISMEF” for short. Tong Xing, vice governor of Guangdong Province and executive director of the Organizing Committee of the CISMEF, said that “Proposed by Premier Wen Jiabao himself, the SCMEF is renamed China International SME Fair, called “CISMEF” for short. It is the only international trade fair in China exclusively for SME, approved by the State Council and sponsored by the “Seven Ministries and Guangdong Province”.

     Now the CISMEF has been held successfully for six times; it is still co-sponsored by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Commerce, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, China Banking Regulatory Commission and Guangdong Province, the CISMEF reflects that the Chinese government attaches great importance to the development of SMEs.

Wang Liming, director-general of the Department of SME of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, noted that the government also attaches great importance to helping SMEs to develop the market both at home and abroad, in addition to the measures aimed at extending financing to SMEs and adjusting and upgrading the industry structure for tackling the negative impact of the international financial crisis. He noted that “The shrinking market share and declining orders are another challenges for SMEs. The purpose of CISMEF is to provide an important platform and window to the SMEs to seek the products, markets and business opportunities”.

What will the 6th CISMEF bring about to SMEs and what will be the main elements of this CISMEF? These are what Zhan Liping looks forward to knowing. Tong Xing, vice governor of Guangdong Province and executive director of the Organizing Committee of the CISMEF said that “The 6th CISMEF will have 5000 international standard exhibition booths, in which the 4000 are distributed to the domestic enterprises and 1000 are reserved for the overseas enterprises. The exhibition areas include the industries of electronic information, household appliances, machinery and equipment, energy conservation and environmental protection, consumer products and building materials, etc; exhibition area for SME services, financial services exhibition area, retain chain enterprise exhibition area, Spanish enterprises exhibition area, Chinese-European SME Cooperation and Exchange Area and the exhibition area for SME from overseas, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan areas”.

As a matter of fact, the China-Spain SME business conference will be held during the period of CISMEF. H.E. Mr. Carlos Blasco Villa, Spanish ambassador to China, pointed out at the press conference that the Chinese economic growth rate is much higher than that in the Euro area under the current international financial crisis. Thanks to the huge potential of Chinese market, the Chinese market is still attractive to foreign enterprises. The government of Spain also hopes that the Spanish SMEs can find the right Chinese partners and clients at this 6th CISMEF.

Tong Xing pointed out that the 6th CISMEF also means opportunity to Chinese SMEs; the previous successful CISMEF testifies to such business opportunities. For five years, Each CISMEF scored considerable tangible benefits and results. For instance, we held the SME fair with Japan; more than 6000 merchants attended the Fair and more than 20,000 contracts were signed. That is to say, each CISMEF will attract more than 300,000 purchasers, so the influence is very big.