The three-day Zhejiang Fair Viet Nam at the Tan Binh Exhibition and Convention Center— Photo vinexad

HCM CITY (VNS) — More than 110 companies from the south-eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang have brought their products to an exhibition which opened yesterday in HCM City, hoping to strike up more partnerships than they managed to at earlier fairs in Ha Noi.

The three-day Zhejiang Fair Viet Nam at the Tan Binh Exhibition and Convention Center, features machinery and equipment, especially for the textile and garments industry, building and interior decoration materials, electrical-electronic home appliances, stationery, and others.

Zhejiang is a trade powerhouse in China with exports of US$225 billion last year. Viet Nam's exports last year, in comparison, were worth $115 billion.

A similar exhibition in Ha Noi in 2011 saw around 80 business contracts being signed, and this increased to 120 last year, according to the organiser Vietnam Exhibition and Advertising Company (Vinexad).

Last year Zhejiang's exports to Viet Nam topped $2.46 billion, mostly of raw materials for the textile and garments industry, steel and pharmaceuticals.

Its imports, mainly of crude oil, rubber, and plastic materials, were worth $990 million.

Viet Nam has invested $22 million in 24 projects in the textile and garments, chemicals, and machinery industries in Zhejiang.

The Chinese province has invested $450 million in 164 projects in Viet Nam, mainly in light industry—VNS