BEIJING - A MAJOR trade fair in China this week has seen orders dive as foreign buyers tighten their belts, state media reported, in a further sign the country is feeling the pinch from the global financial crisis.

Contracts signed in the first five days of the ongoing China Import and Export Fair in southern Guangzhou city totalled 16.5 billion (S$24.4 billion), down 10.8 per cent from the last fair in April, Xinhua news agency said.

The number of buyers from Europe and the United States were only two thirds of the last fair, event spokesman Mu Xinhai said according to the report, issued late on Monday.

Orders from the United States declined by around one third from the level in April to US$1.6 billion, the biggest cut among all overseas buyers, it said.

Evidence is mounting that the deepening global economic downturn is beginning to impact China's exports, a key growth driver for the world's fourth largest economy.

The pace of expansion in exports in the first three quarters slowed down by 4.8 percentage points from last year, growing by 22.3 per cent to US$1.1 trillion, official figures showed.

The Chinese economy also started to take a hit from the global financial woes, growing by nine per cent in the third quarter, the lowest growth figure since the second quarter of 2003.

The government decided at a meeting last weekend to support exports in the fourth quarter, including tax incentives for labour-intensive products such as textiles and high-added value goods like electrical products.

The import and export fair, which takes place twice a year, is viewed as a key indicator of Chinese trade activity. It opened on October 15 and will run until November 6. -- AFP