Fashion followers and professional buyers are heading to Guangzhou for a textile and apparel exhibition, one of the biggest and most influential galas of its kind in Guangdong province.

The final part of the ongoing 12th China International Small and Medium Enterprises Fair, the exhibition will be held from Nov 1 to 4 at the city's International Sourcing Center.

The 12th CISMEF is organized by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, the provincial government of Guangdong and the Malaysian Ministry of International trade and Industry, aiming to showcase the latest products, technologies and services of nearly 3,000 Chinese and overseas SMEs.

The exhibition covers an area of about 15,000 square meters and provides 400 booths to more than 200 companies from foreign countries and the Chinese mainland, as well as Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. Famous international brands attending include H&M, Calvin Klein, Hugo Boss, Adidas and New Balance.

Individuality and creativity are key to the fashion industry, so exhibitors will have less restrictions in decorating their booths than those who participated in the other three themed exhibitions of the fair. Strange and bold decoration styles, for instance, will be allowed if they express or match the characteristics of the products, organizers said.

Activities including salons, fashion shows, Chinese original brand debuts and a fabric design contest will be held during the exhibition, aiming to show that the Chinese textile and apparel industry is undergoing a change from "made in China" to "created by China".

The exhibition will also host three corporate matchmaking events, four promotions and four summit forums for marketing and the Internet-plus strategy.

haonan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 10/31/2015 page9)