With the Second China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industry Fair (ICIF) less than four weeks away, a working committee was established Friday involving top government leaders to ensure the expanded fair is a resounding success.

During the inaugural meeting Friday, Mayor Xu Zongheng urged government departments and other entities involved, along with the general public, to fulfill their responsibilities in preparing for a successful and first-rate fair.

"The fair will be a second name card of the city after the China Hi-Tech Fair and a window showcasing China's cultural products to the world," Xu said, urging all levels of government in the city to spare no effort on building on the success of the first ICIF held in 2004.

Deputy Party chief Li Yizhen was appointed head of the working committee with Liu Yingli and Yan Xiaopei, vice mayors, his assistants.

The nine exhibition halls covering a total area of 105,000 square meters have been booked by 1,071 exhibitors, among whom 98 are from overseas.

So far, some 20,000 Chinese professionals and more than 1,300 foreigners have registered to attend the fair.

Xu also urged the formation of an ad hoc office during the fair for product safety and intellectual property rights protection to prevent faked and inferior-quality products from being displayed at the fair.

The Web site of the fair, www.cnicif.com, has proved to be an important channel for soliciting visitors, with more than 1,800 professionals registering online one month before the opening of the fair.

The professionals from 23 provinces in China and 11 overseas regions and countries are senior or middle-level managers in almost all fields in the cultural industry, such as design, handicraft, media, filmmaking, computer games, printing and recording, performance and entertainment, the fair organizers revealed.

The organizers also launched multi-language services on another Web site www.icif.china.cn, which attracted a lot of foreign visitors.

The arts festival specially designed to accompany the fair kicked off with a Henan Opera titled "Orphan Saved" by Cheng Ying, which was performed at Shenzhen Grand Theater on Friday.

The arts festival will last four months and become an annual fixture of the ICIF.

(Shenzhen Daily April 24, 2006)