China is set to leave its mark on the 88th installment of the İzmir International Fair as a partner country.

Considered to be one of the oldest fairs in the world, the event will be held under the auspices of the Trade Ministry and hosted by the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality on Sept. 6-15.

Thanks to the fair, Turkey and China will have a significant opportunity for reciprocal promotion, further enhancing the economic and commercial relations between the two countries.

The Trade Ministry welcomes high-level delegations from many countries around the world at the annual trade event. With this event, Turkey's economic and commercial potential is explained to the guests, paving the way for exploring new cooperation opportunities in the meantime.

İzmir International Fair hosted Russia as a partner country in 2017 and Serbia in the same position last year. Both countries had the opportunity to introduce their economic strengths as well as their cultural features in this scope.

The foundations of the İzmir International Fair were laid at the İzmir Economy Congress, which gathered soon after the War of Independence. The fair, based on the idea of exhibiting domestic products, has been held annually since 1927, except for interruptions during the World Economic Depression and World War II.

The fair gradually increased its importance in the international arena after World War II. While the fairs held in the 1960s and 1970s witnessed the competition between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, Germany and the U.K. showed off strength with the automobiles they produced.

The fair also displayed space technologies used in Apollo mission and at the MIR Space Station, as well as new car technologies. It also introduced products, like the washing machine and televisions, for the first time in Turkey.

Coinciding with the harvest, the fair was the meeting point of Anatolian people. For this reason, it had commercial as well as cultural aspects.

Having maintained its vitality with the fair quotas given to companies that wanted to import during the closed economy period, the fair lost its pull in the 1990s due to the globalization of world economies, the beginning of the removal of trade barriers between countries and the fact that companies, rather than countries, rose to prominence.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the ongoing competition with the U.S. ended, too. Country pavilions came to be replaced by company booths.

The İzmir fair continued its activities in sectors based on domestic consumption such as food, furniture and automobiles, but it has lagged behind specialized fairs in foreign trade.

The event is a general trade fair that has produced 10 special exhibitions. Among them, MARBLE International Natural Stone and Technologies and IF Wedding Bridal Dress, Groom's Suit and Accessories fairs have gained international recognition.