SHENZHEN, China, Nov. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- China Hi-Tech Fair 2012 (CHTF; "the fair") opened on November 16. Lu Yongxiang, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) and the former president of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) announced the opening. Wan Gang, vice-chairman of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the Minister of Science & Technology attended the opening ceremony.

Xu Qin, mayor of Shenzhen and director of the CHTF Organizing Committee, introduced the theme of CHTF 2012 as "Promoting technological innovation and enhancing development quality". The fair spread out over 110,000 square meters in order to accommodate nearly 3,000 exhibitors. Once again, it was a big "family gathering" of all Chinese provinces, autonomous regions and specially-designated cities, such as Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

Innovation was a key theme at CHTF 2012. Some highlights included:

• In the National Development & Reform Commission Pavilion CapitalBio displayed the world's first chip for the detection of hereditary hearing loss genes, which is also the first approved for clinical application by a national government. They also demonstrated their "Ai Shen Pu" Individual Gene Detection Technology, which predicts and evaluates disease risks via gene testing.
• In the TD-LTE (4G mobile communication technology & standards) Pavilion of MIIT, visitors witnessed current TD-LTE development and production, a first-ever gathering in a special pavilion at a national-level exhibition.
• Calling its show of technical products "Feel China", CAS brought its Lower Exoskeleton Walk-Aid Robot, developed by Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology of CAS, along with several strategic emerging industrial programs, including their home health management system based on tri-networks integration.
• The Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Science & Technology, and the Ministry of Agriculture also had comprehensive displays of Chinese innovations in many different aspects.

This year, the number of foreign delegations increased by 37.5% over 2011, and the number of registered overseas buyers doubled.

CHTF 2012 provided individualized services to key exhibitors, especially stressing services to micro & small technical companies. The new show designed for micro & small starting up technical firms attracted 44 outstanding contestants to the Shenzhen Section of China Innovation & Entrepreneurship Competition, and some others from the United States, Hong Kong, and the rest of of China. Besides exhibiting at CHTF, they will be offered special services, such as training on entrepreneurship and financing.