The 105th Canton Fair, to be held between April and May 2009, has been formally introduced to South Africans in Johannesburg on Thursday by Zhang Zhigang, deputy director of the Committee for Economic Affairs of National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). Zhang, also vice president of China Import and Export Fair and chairman of the Council of China Foreign Trade Center, told the meeting that China Import and Export Fair, also renowned as the Canton Fair, is held biannually in Guangzhou every spring and autumn.

China is not pushing to expand overseas farming and Chinese companies are less active in their investment abroad because of concerns of potential political risks, a senior Agriculture Ministry official said on Wednesday. To meet a perennial shortfall in soybean supply, China, the world's largest soy importer, will continue to import from major growing countries such as the United States, the largest exporter, rather than seeking to buy up farmland outside China, said Qian Keming, market economics director at the ministry.