A record number of Chinese businesses and manufacturers are participating in the annual exhibition of Chinese products in the United States, in a way to show their confidence in the U.S. market and American consumers, a senior Chinese official said here on Monday.

Inaugurating the "China Brand Show 2009" in the Las Vegas International Convention Center, Vice Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan said the Chinese government pays much attention to the difficulties its economy is facing amid the global financial crisis.

"Ever since November last year, the Chinese foreign trade has been going down for a consecutive nine months, which complies with the world trade situation in general," said the official.

Stressing that both China and the United States are each other' s essential trading partner, Zhong said that the two countries had committed to open more to trade and investment and fight protectionism at the recent China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue, held in Washington, D.C. in July.

On China's domestic efforts to tackle the global economic recession, Zhong said the government has rolled out a huge economic stimulus package, and China's stabilizing and promising economic trend has contributed to the global confidence in an early economic recovery.

"China's GDP enjoyed a 7.1-percent growth in the first half of 2009, bringing the economic slump starting from the fourth quarter last year to an end," said the vice minister.

According to organizers of the annual show, more than 200 enterprises from China are participating this year, to showcase their products during the three-day event that ends on Wednesday.

The show also serves as a promotion event for the 106th China Import and Exports Fair, to be held in Guangzhou from Oct. 12 to Nov. 4 this year, officials said.

The China Import and Export Fair, the country's number one trade fair, has become a platform for enterprises from different countries to do business and one of the key channels for foreign companies to enter the Chinese market.