October 11, 2007 -- The significance of the halal food market will be highlighted at the 2007 China International Halal Food and Products Fair, which is to be hosted by the Government of Qinghai Province and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT). The three-day event will be held at Qinghai International Exhibition Center, Xi'ning, Qinghai province, on November 1-3. The fair aims to provide a meeting place for buyers and sellers, manufacturers, technology suppliers and investors from all over the world.

"Although the domestic halal industry has been developing in recent years, small and medium size enterprises form the bulk of the sector. They are small scale vendors without advanced conditions. Due to the huge market, it is very important to promote the industry so that it can compete internationally," Ping Yu, the vice-president of CCPIT, said in a statement.

According to global group HighBeam Research, the current estimated value of the total halal market is 1126.5 billion yuan (US$150 billion), but this has the potential to rise to 3755 billion yuan ($500 billion) by 2010, driven by the increasing value and diversity of the consumer market, combined with strong demographic trends.

"There are few special fairs like this halal industry fair. We were looking forward to organizing an exhibition in this industry," Wenming Li, CCPIT spokesman, one of the conference's two organizers, told Emerging China. "Up to now, most suppliers are from western and northern China, including Gansu, Qinghai, Inner Mongolia, and so on, while the buyers are mainly from Arabian countries and South East Asia."

"One of the main reasons why we chose Qinghai to hold the fair is that we got strong support from the provincial government," said Li. "The exhibitors from Qinghai can get a booth for free, while the non-Chinese exhibitors and those from Hongkong, Macau and Taipei may get discount on their booth fee. All these benefits come from the strong support by local government."

It was not easy to find exhibitors.

"We were unsure about attending the fair at first, because we did not know how much of an effect an event held in a remote place might have," Jinshan Wang, the spokesman of Yi Li Co. Ltd, an potential exhibitor from Inner Mongolia told Emerging China. "But we eventually decided to join the event when we were aware of the real situation. There are going to be lots of foreign visitors and we hope to play a role in an international event."

"The main difficulty is that domestic enterprises do not recognize the location of the fair. We have to work hard to a group of visitors outside China and then the domestic exhibitors," said Li. "After our efforts, the situation is positive now."