BEIJING, Nov. 28(Xinhuanet)-- Wu Yi, China's vice premier, urged the expo industry to learn from foreign experience to upgrade itself Monday.

    In a letter to the second China Convention and Exposition Forum, Wu said China's expo industry has made great progress in recent years and has become one of the fastest growing industries of the country.

    Having improved economic and trade exchanges and cooperation, some expositions, such as the "Chinese Export Commodity Fair," have become famous in the world, she said.

    According to statistics of the Ministry of Commerce, China held more than 3,000 domestic and 800 overseas conventions and expositions last year.

    With a growth rate of 20 percent every year, the expo industry has become more and more important for China, Jiang Zengwei, vice minister of commerce, said during the forum.

    However, the production value of the expo industry in 2004 registered ten billion yuan, only accounting for 0.07 percent of the country's gross domestic product, 0.14 percent less than the average in developed countries.

    Wu said the Chinese government has attached great importance to this industry and hopes it can exchange and cooperate with its foreign counterparts more frequently.

    Jiang said his ministry will foster 100 world-famous brands in this industry by 2010.