URUMQI, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- A total of 394 Chinese and foreign large oil and equipment companies participated in the China International Petroleum and Petrochemical Technology and Equipment Exhibition that opened Tuesday in Karamay, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
Covering an area of 31,000 square meters, the event attracts companies, purchasers and scholars from 13 countries and regions, the organizers said.
"The event has become one of the most important fairs in China as well as central Asia for petroleum and petrochemical companies to carry out technical exchanges and trade cooperation," said Feng Yaoxiang, head of the trade and investment promotion department under the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT).
Gotthard Gawens is the global product manager of Hoerbiger, a German company specializing in compression technology. He said it is their first visit to China, but several Chinese companies have already expressed their intention of cooperation.
The biennial exhibition, co-hosted by the CCPIT, PetroChina, Sinopec, China National Offshore Oil Corporation and the regional government of Xinjiang, has been held four times.