Hefei, a booming hi-tech city in east China, is once again hosting its annual High-Tech Fair, which brings together inventors and innovators with investors from China and overseas.

The opening ceremony of the 2009 China High-Tech Fair is held on October 28 in Hefei.

Hefei, the capital of Anhui Province, was the first city designated by the Chinese government as an experimental high-tech center. Since 2001 its annual High-Tech Fair has attracted domestic and overseas investors and boosted the region's industrial and economic competitiveness.

"Thanks to hi-tech projects, Hefei has developed rapidly over the past few years. In 2005, the city's GDP was just 87.8 billion yuan, but by 2008, it had nearly doubled to 166.5 billion yuan," Wei Yuping, director of the Hefei information office told China.org.cn.

"Today, Hefei is the fastest developing provincial capital in China," added Wei.

The Hefei High-Tech Fair showcases the latest developments in technology and brings innovators and venture capitalists together to facilitate partnerships that can turn inventions into commercially viable products.

This year's fair was officially opened on October 28 at a ceremony held at Anhui International Conference & Exhibition Center and was attended by government leaders, entrepreneurs and financiers.

A total of 226 projects are on display at the fair and are expected to attract investments totaling more than 180 billion yuan. The projects include automotive electronics, equipment manufacturing, information technology, biotechnology, medicine, new materials, agricultural products and food processing.

The three-day fair, features 12 high-tech exhibitions and four forums focusing on innovation and development, as well as numerous business seminars on technology transfer.

A globe suspended by magnetic force is on show at the High-Tech Fair on October 28, 2009.