The Western China International Fair (WCIF) is a state-level international fair, approved by the Chinese State Council, jointly hosted by 15 national ministries and 12 provincial governments in western regions and organized by the Sichuan Provincial People’s Government, as an important platform in western China for trade cooperation, investment promotion and diplomatic communication service. Through 11 years’ development, WCIF has become the largest international fair in western China.

WCIF is a good choice and opportunity for the exhibitors to publicize their company image, release new products, establish enterprise brands and build government resources. In 2009, Premier Wen Jiabao attended at the Opening Ceremony of the 10th WCIF and visited the Exhibition Center. In 2010, Vice Premier Wang Qishan attended the 11th WCIF and delivered a key-note speech at the 3rd Western China Int’l Cooperation Forum indicating that the Chinese government will further the West Development Strategy with more resolution, strength and effective measures in the next 10 years. The fair attracted 700,000 visitors, including 60,000 merchants from home and abroad. 1,582 investment projects have been signed at the fair, the volume of investment amounted to CNY752.32 billion, and the volume of on-site and trade turnover totaled CNY224.2 billion. The 12th WCIF will be held in Chengdu, Sichuan from October 18 to 22, 2011.

The Timberland Company, a leading global designer and vendor of outdoor shoes and clothing, will soon establish an e-commerce presence in China amid efforts to double the number of its domestic retail outlets. President and Chief Executive Jeffrey Swartz said Timberland also plans to move its Asia-Pacific headquarters to China from Singapore. Timberland’s continued expansion in China helped its third-quarter revenue from Asia rise 19.7% year on year to USD46.7 million. “Our fastest-growing market on Earth is China,” Swartz said. “We’re seeing exciting growth in almost every single region, not just in the coastal cities but also moving inland.” That has made it imperative for New York-listed Timberland, which set up its operations in China in 2004, to have a deeper understanding of the market and closer relationship with its consumers, Swartz said. Timberland intends to open its Chinese e-commerce site in the first half of next year. The retailer currently has about 110 directly owned stores and franchised shops in China. “We want to more than double that number and we’re adding new stores as fast as we can,” Swartz said, without providing a timetable, the South China Morning Post reports.

Several ecological programs planned for the Three Gorges Dam have remained stalled due to a shortage of funds. The government launched a 10-year pollution control plan in 2001, but so far, only 18.6% of the water environment protection projects have been finished, while all the nine projects on water pollution caused by ships have yet to kick off, Vice Minister of Environmental Protection Zhang Lijun said. Zhang Tong, Vice Governor of Hubei, said the central government could use a certain amount of power taxes to establish an ecological and environmental compensation fund to protect the environment along the Yangtze River. Vice Minister Zhang Lijun said that by the end of the 11th Five Year Plan in December 2010, provinces or municipalities that fail to finish 60% of the projects will receive punishments. Since 2003, seven rivers in the Three Gorges area in Hubei have been plagued by a blue algae outbreak.