??? THE city’s firms had made deals worth US$1.35 billion at the first phase of this year’s Canton Fair, increasing by 1.4 percent over the same period of last year. There were 195 companies at the fair with 327 booths. They were mainly in areas such as home appliances, car parts, small machines, hardware, tools and chemical products. Home appliances and electronic products saw deals worth US$920 million, accounting for 68 percent of the total transaction volume. Among these, the transaction volume of refrigerators, washing machines and air-conditioners reached US$660 million. The volume for hardware was US$74.6 million and the amount for machines was US$66.7 million, similar to last year. Tools saw US$47.51 million in revenue and car parts deals reached US$45.7 million, increasing by 26 percent and 14 percent respectively compared with last year’s fair. Seven companies were represented at the city’s brand exhibition area and the made transaction volume of US$1.17 billion. ???(Wang Yuanyuan, Shen Junlin)  | 