Contracts worth 16 billion yuan (2.5 billion U.S. dollars) have been signed for projects in the cultural and creative industry at the ongoing Beijing International Fair for Trade in Services(Beijing Fair). (Xinhua/Li Xin)

BEIJING, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Contracts worth 16 billion yuan (2.5 billion U.S. dollars) have been signed for projects in the cultural and creative industry at the ongoing Beijing International Fair for Trade in Services(Beijing Fair).

At a contract signing ceremony on Wednesday, Wang Haiping, deputy head of the publicity department of Beijing, said the revenue of Beijing's cultural and creative industry for 2011 exceeded 900 billion yuan, up by 14.2 percent from the previous year and taking up 12.1 percent of the city's total gross domestic product.

Li Danyang, general manager of the Beijing Gehua Cultural Development Group, said the company will cooperate with the world's top service providers to establish an international cultural service trade system, which will serve as an important platform for the "going global" of Chinese culture.

Hosted by the Ministry of Commerce and the Beijing municipal government, the Beijing Fair, akin to China's major commodities fair, the Canton Fair, was opened on Monday and has attracted more than 22,000 service providers from 82 countries and regions to foster trade in the sector. It closes on Friday.