Russian dancers perform at the fair (CHEN RAN)

The 20th China Harbin International Economic and Trade Fair (HTF) kicked off on Monday, attracting some 120,000 domestic and foreign participants from 68 countries and regions.

"The scale of this year's fair is far larger than we expected given the global financial crisis," said Chen Dianyun, head of the fair's administration office. "The exhibition area covers 85,000 square meters; a total of 10,194 registered exhibitors have booked 3,001 booths, including 22 Fortune 500 companies; about 58 key projects such as promotional activities, forums and business days for specific countries have been scheduled over the whole week."

Chen said this year's fair features several "firsts"--an online registration system has been introduced to better serve exhibitors, and delegates from Latin America including Cuba and Brazil are attending for the first time to seek more business opportunities. This year also sees more exhibitors from culture, education, tourism and science and technology areas.

First held in 1990, the Harbin Trade Fair adheres to the principle of "focusing on Russia, looking at northeast Asia, covering the world and serving the whole nation." Domestic and overseas turnover last year hit 100 billion yuan (about $14.7 billion) and $10.59 billion, respectively.

(Reporting from Harbin, Heilongjiang Province)