Focused on "green energies, circular economy and industrial transformation", the third China Taiyuan International Energy Industry Expo is offering fresh opportunities for cooperation and exchanges in a wider range of fields.

The expo opened on Thursday in Taiyuan, capital of the famous coal mining province of Shanxi, and will close on September 19.

In contrast to previous coal expos, the fuel is not the dominant topic of this year's event.

Exhibits cover a range of topics relating to energy - from traditional resources, to alternative and even products, equipment and technologies for energy conservation and environmental protection.

A new highlight of the expo is the 4,000-square-meter new energy vehicles exhibition area, where hybrid and purely electric cars produced by internationally and nationally renowned automakers including BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Chang'an are on display.

In addition, there are six other showrooms for coal and coal bed gas, power generation and transmission, petroleum and natural gas, new energies, environmental protection and energy equipment.

Total exhibition area at the expo has now 40,000 square meters with about 2,000 booths.

About 30,000 participants are expected at the three-day event, including representatives of businesses, governments, industrial organizations and research institutions from 18 countries and region across the world.

A total of 460 exhibitors, including 87 international businesses, 352 domestic companies and 21 government delegations, are showing their technologies, products, equipment and new achievements in energy.

In addition to exhibitions, a number of events, such as an investment and trade fair, a summit forum and three special symposiums will be held at the expo.

At the summit forum on Thursday, 17 speakers, including senior officials of China's ministries, experts from International Energy Organizations (IEA) and executives of multinational companies, talked about global trends in energy and offered suggestions on how Shanxi can transform its coal-based economy to become more diverse and less carbon intensive.

The expo is sponsored by the Shanxi provincial government, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the National Energy Administration.

(China Daily September 18, 2010)