The 2008 China (Shenzhen) International Investment and Trade Fair, the largest fair of its kind in the city's history, will open at Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center on Friday.

More than 500 exhibitors, including 210 government delegations and 50 foreign enterprises and institutions, will bring more than 10,000 projects to the two-day fair to seek investors.

The projects cover many fields including industry, agriculture, tourism and tertiary industry. Some of them involve investments of more than 100 million yuan (US$14 million).

Seventeen buyers from European countries and the United States will land orders worth 25 million yuan for 88 categories of products including garments, clockware, jewelry and gifts.

The fair, organized by the Shenzhen branch of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and Shenzhen Chamber of Investment, was regarded as a platform for investment and trade, exchanges of investment experience and the integration of capital projects.

The fair highlights project matchmaking, He Xuewen, chief of the Shenzhen branch of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said Thursday.

One focus of the fair is the transfer of the operations of some industries in Shenzhen and the Pearl River Delta area to inland cities, He said.

Five forums will be held. Former Shenzhen Mayor Li Zibin, now chairman of the China Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, and Song Liping, general manager of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, will address the growth of China¡¯s small and medium enterprises.