Lu'an Vice-Mayor Wang Anyi announced last week that the festival, co-sponsored by China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Foodstuffs, Native Produce and Animal By-Products (COFNA), Anhui Provincial Department of Commerce and Lu'an City Government, is aimed at building a platform for future cooperation between China and world feather and down industry to advance the sector's sustainable development.

During the gala, visitors, suppliers and buyers will witness an opening ceremony, the issue of certificates of China Quality Feather & Down Exporting Base and China Northern Feather & Down Products Base, and launch of China Feather & Down Trading Market, the 1st China Quality Feather and Down Products Auction, the 1st China Feather and Down Fashion Design Contest as well as China International Feather & Down Forum, he said in the provincial capital of Hefei at a news conference.

Currently, China is the world's largest producer of feather and down as well as products by producing 200,000 tons of feather and down raw materials each year, or some 70 per cent of the total around the globe, Mr Wang said, adding that as the largest exporter of feather and down as well as related products, the country also exports US$1.9 billion annually in the industry, or more than half of the total global trade in the sector.

Zhang Danning, deputy director of Anhui Provincial Department of Commerce, noted that Lu'an in western Anhui is dubbed a base of China's feather and down raw materials, and an exporting pioneer in the country with a large batch of breeding and processing enterprises.

At present, the city's export accounts for more than 60 per cent of the province's total in the sector, Mr Zhang said.

Mr Wang reiterated that although China's feather and down industry has made considerable progress in recent years, problems still loom large, such as a passive position on the international market, awaiting upgrade of trade patterns and uneven development of exporting enterprises, which all help to result in a deteriorating environment for export.

"The festival is aimed to create an interactive platform for future cooperation between China and world feather and down industry to advance the sector's sustainable development", in a bid to help solve all problems facing the industry, Vice-Mayor Geng Xuemei affirmed.

As a major city for ducks and geese breeding, Lu'an produced a number of poultry reaching 120 million heads in 2009 and manufactured 8,000 tons of soft feather of white geese amid a fast-growing number of breading and manufacturing enterprise, deepened processing and expanding variety of products, Mr Geng said.

Mr Wang affirmed that to make the gala a complete success, the festival will kick off a series of spectacular activities, including:

• The 1st China Quality Feather and Down Products Auction will be held on 17 September in Huoshan County which is under the jurisdiction of Lu'an, providing a new platform for both domestic and overseas companies by offering the best quality feather and down products for international buyers.
• There will be the Spectacular China Cup – China Feather and Down Fashion Design Contest, which is initiated by COFNA together with the Italy-China Economic Relations and Trade Association and China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textiles, displaying works from around the world.
• The China International Feather & Down Forum will also open during the festival, covering topics such as the state of international feather and down production, the industry's development, trends and features of the global market in the post-crisis era.
• Feather and down as well as products displays will also be launched to offer trade negotiations between China product makers and international buyers.

Mr Wang noted that the festival is also undertaken by the Ministry of Commerce's Special Commissioner's Office in Shanghai, Sichuan Provincial Department of Commerce, COFNA Feather & Down Department and Lu'an City Bureau of Commerce