Visitors look at the latest drone at China International Industry Fair 2018 in east China's Shanghai, Sept. 19, 2018. The 20th China International Industry Fair opened Wednesday in Shanghai, with over 2,600 companies participating in the five-day event. (Xinhua/Chen Fei)

SHANGHAI, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- The 20th China International Industry Fair opened Wednesday in Shanghai, with over 2,600 companies participating in the five-day event.

With the theme of "innovation, intelligence and green," this year's fair is expected to attract over 170,000 visitors. Its 280,000 square meters of exhibition space will house 13,000 booths, 30 percent of which are from foreign companies.

Eight professional exhibition sectors have been set up to cover major industrial areas including numerically-controlled machine tools and metal processing, industrial automation, robots, new energy and electrical power, industrial Internet, energy-saving and environmental protection technology and equipment, intelligent network vehicles and technical innovation.

The organizers said the fair has become an important platform for companies from China and other countries to carry out economic and technological activities and enhance exchanges.