Officials address the opening of the 22nd Ningbo International Fashion Festival in Ningbo on Oct 18. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The 22nd Ningbo International Fashion Festival kicked off on Oct 18 in the port city of Ningbo, Zhejiang province. 

It features exhibitions, trade talks and fashion shows, and will last until Oct 21. 

The biggest highlight of the festival is a fashion exhibition covering an area of 40,000 square meters, with 2,000 booths exhibiting clothes of more than 300 brands. 

Altogether 265 companies from 16 domestic cities and 11 overseas countries will attend the expo, including the United States, Britain, Poland, Russia, Italy, France and South Korea. Overseas brands and brands from other domestic cities account for 46 percent of all the brands exhibited. 

The expo is designed to showcase the latest fashion industry achievements and trends, promote the integration of brands and cultures around the world, and broaden cooperation in the international fashion industry. 

Another highlight will be the twelve fashion shows that carry designs from famous domestic and foreign stylists, as well as a variety of domestic brands, ranging from the established to the avant-garde. 

In addition, the four-day festival will also witness a fashion designing competition for college students, several forums on men's clothing, smart manufacturing of clothes, and e-commerce in fashion, matchmaking meetings among fashion designers, companies and clothes buyers, as well as a press conference showcasing the predicted trends for China's 2019/2020 autumn-winter textiles.