To Jilin provincial government:

The news conference on China-Northeast Asia economic and trade cooperation and the ninth China-Northeast Asia Expo (CNEA Expo) was successfully opened at 10 am on April 2, 2013. The conference was ably supported by the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), and the State Council Information Office of the People's Republic of China (SCIO). Its general information and the media report are as follows:

General Information

Chen Jian, the vice-minister of the Ministry of Commerce, attended the conference and answered the reporters' questions. Also in attendance were Chen Weigen, the deputy governor of Jilin, and Zhou Jianping, the senior official of the NDRC.

As one of the organizers, Chen Jian said the Ministry of Commerce will firmly support the expo. The expo will be a source of authoritative information, a platform for high-level conference activities and an engine to vitalize the region's economic development. It will play an important role in Northeast Asia's harmonious, win-win development.

Compared to former expos, Chen Weigen stressed the expo's five major changes after renaming and upgrading, including its functions, scale and effect.

The expo will set a pavilion themed on the revitalization of the old Northeast China industrial base, according to the introduction of Zhou Jianpin. It aims to promote the opening-up and revival of the old industrial base.

The news conference received reporters from home and abroad. A total of 13 questions asked by nine media outlets, including China Central Television (CCTV), China Radio International (CRI) and China National Radio (CNR), were answered during the conference.

Guests and Media

The attendees of the news conference included 16 officials from the Ministry of Commerce, three officials from the NDRC, and 10 officials from embassies of Northeast Asia countries.

A total of 180 journalists were attracted by the news conference, including 75 journalists from 57 mainland media outlets; 16 journalists from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan media; and 32 journalists representing 18 foreign media firms.

Publicity

The news conference was reported by a diversity of media.

The websites of CRI, the Central People's Government of the PRC, China.com.cn and Xinhuanet.com presented a live broadcast of the event.

CNR and Jilin Radio broadcasted the conference news.

CCTV News Channel reported on the conference for 2 minutes and 12 seconds at 5:40pm. Xinwen Lianbo, a news program from CCTV, also reported the news.

Reports about the conference could also be found in print media including People's Daily, Economic Daily and China Daily.

Asahi Shimbun, NHK and Yahoo Japan also reported on the conference.

It is estimated that over 120 media from in and outside China reported the news, including 40 newspapers and over 80 websites.

A total of 290,000 messages were searched on Baidu, a Chinese search engine, with the key words "China-Northeast Asia economic and trade cooperation" as of 11:00 am on April 3, 2013. Over 150 messages featured the latest information.

Over 380,000 messages resulted on Google.hk as a result of the key words, including over 2,000 recent news reports.

Effect

The news conference was highly regarded by the officials of the Ministry of Commerce and the NDRC, particularly its organization and attendees.

The news conference was very successful and was commended by Guo Weimin and Hu Kaihong, the directors of the SCIO. Rarely does a news conference in the professional field have so many journalists in attendance.

The conference attracted extensive attention from media, not only outlets that were notified. Some media signed up for the conference without prior-notice from the organizers.

The conference set a record in the number of attending journalists; up to 30 video cameras filmed the event. Mainstream media, including People's Daily, CCTV and CNR reported on it.

Zhang Zhiwei and Yang Youhai, the senior officials of the Jilin Provincial Information Office, paid a special visit to Beijing. Their communication and coordination with the SCIO was of great importance to the success of the conference.

April 3, 2013.