GUANGZHOU: Thousands of businesses have high hopes for the 6th China International Small And Medium Enterprises Fair (CISMEF) set to open in Guangdong province tomorrow.

One of them is Liu Chengguo, a senior executive with Heilongjiang Chengguo Foodstuff Co Ltd.

"I know the organizers have invited many buyers from home and abroad and I'm expecting to get at least as many business orders as the previous session a year ago," Liu said.

Liu attended the 5th CISMEF in 2008 and his firm secured 12 million yuan worth of sales contracts during the four-day fair.

"The business orders contributed 30 percent to our sales in 2008," he said. "That's why our company applied for the opportunity to have a presence at the fair long ago and has made good preparatory work ever since."

Tan Weiqiang, a deputy general manager with a chemical firm in the Pearl River Delta city of Foshan, has even more expectations for the SME gala.

"We will not only promote our products at the fair, but also seek opportunities to forge new business ties with other chemical suppliers to become their regional sales agent," he said.

Tan said his emphasis will be on chemical suppliers from Europe.

"We've registered for project-matching seminars and really hope our efforts will pay off."

Several business representatives told China Daily that their range of motivations include the search for funding, enhanced understanding of the latest national and regional policies for SMEs, better access to global market information or to simply meet again with their long-term clients.

"Dwindling market and shrinking orders are pressing problems for SMEs in a time of global economic downturn," noted Wang Liming, director of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's SME department.

"CISMEF will first of all create an important platform for SMEs to promote products, expand markets and seek business opportunities."

According to Tong Xing, vice-governor of Guangdong province, CISMEF will be a good business platform not only for Chinese SMEs but also for those from abroad.

"China's sustained economic development in wake of the outbreak of the global financial crisis and its huge market potential are becoming increasingly attractive to business people abroad," Tong said. "CISMEF can become a good platform for domestic SMEs to forge co-operative ties with their counterparts globally and vice versa."

The viewpoint of the vice-governor is shared by Carlos Blasco Villa, Spanish ambassador to China.

China's economic growth has maintained faster than euro countries, he said, adding that because of its massive market, China will keep attractive to many foreign enterprises.

The ambassador said that Spanish government also hopes that the SMEs from Spain will find their Chinese partners and customers during the fair.

Over 200 Spanish enterprises will participate in the four-day event.