The 4th WCIF was jointly sponsored by China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council, the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, All-China Federation of Industry & Commerce, All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives and the People's Government of Sichuan Province, themed “Enforcing Cooperation and Accelerating Development”, held from September 25 to 28, 2003 in Chengdu, Sichuan Province.
Huang Mengfu, vice chairman of the CPPCC and chairman of All-China Federation of Industry & Commerce, leaders of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council, the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives, and His Excellency Longin Hieronim Pastusiak, President of the Senate of the Republic of Poland, Joseph Eichenberger, Vice-President of the Asian Development Bank, Neil Andrew, former Speaker of the House of Australia and Anna Chennault, president of the United States Council for International Cooperation were present at the WCIF. It attracted more than 1,300 businesspersons from 37 countries and regions, more than 3,000 representatives from 20 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, over 6,000 domestic businesspersons and more than 6,000 professional visitors. The visitors totaled more than 150,000.
At the WCIF, 220 contracts of investment were signed, with total amount reaching 25.165 billion yuan; of that, 98 introduced investment from outside of the province with total investment amount 13.815 million yuan, introducing 13.381 billion yuan. Five overseas projects introduced US$16.54 million. The on-site transaction totaled 330 million yuan. A total of 9.87 billion yuan of goods orders were placed and trade agreements of 6.4 billion yuan were signed.
The WCIF set up seven professional halls according to the sector information, namely the IT Hall, Important Technical Equipment Manufacturing Hall, Cultural Industry Hall, Tourist Products Hall, Important Construction Project Hall, Light Industry and Food Hall, and Traditional Chinese Medicine Hall, and Chengdu Hall to show Chengdu's economic development strength and outstanding investment environment. The total exhibition area reached 35,000 square meters, dividing into more than 2,000 exhibition booths, 80% of which were special decorated booths. The fair was the best in terms of the exhibition size, quality and level in the western China.
The conference was classified into four sections, investment seminar, economic and trade fair, forums and promotion activities. The forums and seminars were dominated by international programs. Among the 10 economic and trade seminars, 9 featured international programs, involving in 18 countries or regions. Six of the eight forums involved international activities, and 45% of speakers came from abroad.
The international purchase day was held for the first time and attracted more than 60 buyers, of that more than 20 were Fortune 500 enterprises. Their purchase lists amounted to more than US$100 million, covering tens of thousands kinds of goods. More than 700 suppliers took part in the program.
