Hikaru Sakura, vice manager for the Shiga branch of the Japan Association of Chinese Cuisine, told Xinhua that they consider the event a suitable venue not only to introduce the profundity expressed in Chinese cooking but also to give participating chefs a chance to fully display their cooking abilities.

"Young chefs in Japan are reluctant to spend much time in learning the deep roots of Chinese cuisine and its traditional techniques to produce dishes for important meals. We need expos like these to pass on to the next generation of Japanese chefs the Chinese' unique style in manipulating flavors," Sakura said.

In the Chinese exhibition booth, meanwhile, a wife and her husband in their 40s said that since Chinese cooking has many styles compared to other international cuisines, such us French and Indian, they will never tire of it, but rather be inspired by a kind of "dynamism" when eating. They also appreciated the Chinese various ways of cooking vegetables to make them healthy foods.

The Osaka International Food Exhibition is organized by an executive committee in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as local governments.

The organizer said the food event is held every four years and that this year, the exhibition's eighth, some 350 companies and entrepreneurs from 23 countries around the world are participating. More than 500,000 are expected to watch the event that will end May 6.