Foreign buyers at China's 103rd Import and Export Fair, are positive about the competitiveness of Chinese toys, although average prices have risen by 20 percent over the past year, participants interviewed at the event said.

Chinese toy exports increased slowly last year due to increased prices and the yuan's appreciation. Large-scale quality recalls also hurt the industry. Statistics from the Guangdong Toy Association showed that the province exported 14.7 billion yuan of toys in 2007, up just one percent year-on-year.

Toy makers had been worried that orders might fall sharply this year. But "the situation is better than we expected," an exhibitor from toy maker Jiangsu Hongye said. "The toy market may get better after April, and we are expecting more orders."

"I have been to the Canton Fair every time since 1985. I am confident of Chinese products," said Peter Zollner, a buyer from Sweden's Allan Flink Souvenirer AB. "The quality of the products has been improving every year."

He said his business in China was "going better and better."

                                                                                                                   Edited by Ava