HARBIN, June 14 (Xinhua) -- The 17th China Harbin International Fair for Trade and Economic Cooperation raised its curtain Wednesday.

More than 11,000 company representatives and government officials from about 80 countries and regions are gathered in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, where the fair is held.

The five-day fair is cosponsored by the Ministry of Commerce, National Northeast Revitalization Office and China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.

According to the organizing committee, the fair will provide the room for trade negotiations and project promotion. At the same time, a forum concerning Sino-Russian cooperation will also be held on the fair.

The fair has provided 2,000 international-standard exhibition booths and the total area of the exhibition zone is 76,000 square meters.

One of China's most important international trade fair approved the by the State Council, it has attracted about 1.2 million company representatives and officials in aggregation during the past 16 years and contracts worth more than 70 billion U.S. dollars were signed on the fair. Enditem