Forbes: TRADE-CHINA-SARS

Reuters, 04.30.03

BEIJING, April 30 (Reuters) - The value of deals at China's top trade fair slumped to a quarter of previous levels -- the worst showing in 15 years -- state media said on Wednesday, in the latest sign that SARS is hitting Asia's fastest growing economy.

Some $4.4 billion in export orders were signed at the spring session of the twice-a-year Chinese Export Commodities Fair, also known as the Canton Trade Fair, the state-run China News Service said on its Web site www.chinanews.com.cn.

That was just 24 percent of the autumn session last year, where businesses clinched a record-high $18.5 billion of contracts, data on the fair's Web site www.cantonfair.org.cn showed.

The value of the orders was the smallest since 1988, the data showed.

The fair opened on April 15 in the southern city of Guangzhou and drew just over 23,100 visitors, compared with the more than 135,000 visitors last fall, the report said.

The drop in contracts was widely expected as many foreign businesses cut back on travel after the World Health Organisation warned against trips to SARS-hit areas including Guangdong province, the site of the trade fair.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, a flu-like disease believed to have originated in Guangdong late last year, has killed 159 people in China and infected nearly 3,500, according to official figures.

http://www.forbes.com/home_asia/newswire/2003/04/30/rtr956478.html