XI'AN - The 12th China advertising festival is scheduled to be opened on Oct. 28 in Xi'an, capital city of northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

According to the organizing committee, all the 500 exhibition booths of the festival have been reserved in advance, which is beyond the expectation of the organizer.

The organizer estimated that a total of 600 media and ad companies will participate in the event.

In 2004, revenue from China's ad sector amounted to 126.4 billion yuan (about 15.9 billion US dollars), accounting for 0.93 percent of China's GDP, up 17.2 percent year on year.

The organizer said the highlights of the festival are three major exhibitions: book exhibitions on ad culture, ad media exhibition and exhibition on ad technology and equipment.

Besides CCTV, provincial TV stations, some mainland newspaper groups and ad companies, the Hong Kong-based Ta Kung Pao Newspaper and Phoenix TV will participate in the event.

During the festival, with the theme of "enlivening history, stimulating creativity and invigorating Xi'an", a series of activities including ad works show and appraisal, ad summit forum, professional ad exhibition and outdoor celebrations will be held.

The ad festival will be co-sponsored by the China Advertising Association and the Xi'an municipal government.