Ice Cream China 2020, Asia's biggest ice cream fair, opened Monday in north China's Tianjin Municipality, attracting more than 300 companies and over 10,000 buyers.

The three-day exhibition, covering an area of over 30,000 square meters, showcases a wide range of products in the ice cream industry, including finished products, machinery, raw materials, molds and packaging.

"As the COVID-19 epidemic has been brought under control in the country, Ice Cream China can be held as scheduled to serve as a display and exchange platform for enterprises and consumers," said Xu Qian from the organizing committee.

China is a big producer and consumer of ice cream, with annual production topping 5 million tonnes in recent years, according to Xu.

"Ice cream still has a good market, even during the epidemic. Our company's ice cream sales saw robust growth in the first nine months," said Li Junlong, general manager of the ice cream branch of Bright Dairy & Food Co., Ltd., one of China's leading dairy producers.

"My company enjoyed a 30 percent increase in sales of automated machinery, as many domestic buyers intend to update their equipment due to the rising labor cost caused by the epidemic," said Sha Qingtian, general manager of Nanjing Puyuan Ice Cream Machinery Manufacturing Company.

"Ice cream has become a popular and sweet choice for people who have to spend a long time at home this year. The future of the ice cream industry is very promising in China," said Long Xiangfei, director of the marketing department of an ice cream company in eastern China's Jiangxi Province.