The Harbin Cold Zone Exposition, which opened on Jan 5 in the city of Harbin, Heilongjiang province, has more than 100 enterprises and universities and colleges mainly from China but also from nearby Russia, Canada, Germany, Denmark, South Korea, Japan, and elsewhere who have come to show their high-tech items at the 7-day event.

The expo is being held in the 36,000-square-meter Harbin International Conference Exhibition and Sports Center, which has provided hundreds of international standard booths. One exhibit, ice-removal equipment, is the largest show of its kind in China and takes up a third of the hall.

The robot area has doubled in size this year, with enterprises from Harbin, Shanghai and foreign companies presenting their robots for manufacturing, education, services, and other uses. Other new products cover 3D printing, graphemes, environmental protection, architecture and energy.

The Harbin government is the sponsor of the expo, whose theme is the Silk Road Economic Belt and whose purpose is to open up and interact more with foreign cities in this Frigid Zone. There will also be various activities, including a summit on the urban development in the Frigid Zone, a seminar on ice-removal technology, and an investment promotion.

Harbin is famous for its high latitude and freezing cold winters, as well as winter tourism.