As autumn embraces Guangzhou (also known as the ‘City of Ram’), merchants from all over the world are gathering for the 138th China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair) which kicked off on October 15.
Known as the ‘barometer’ and ‘weather vane’ of China’s foreign trade, this year’s Canton Fair has set a historic high of 74,600 booths and over 32,000 exhibitors. Against the backdrop of in-depth adjustments in global trade patterns, this injects strong momentum into international economic and trade cooperation.
From a data perspective, the innovative vitality and opening-up level of this year’s Canton Fair are fully demonstrated. More than 1 million new products and nearly 1.1 million products with independent intellectual property rights will be displayed on-site, including almost 800,000 debuts.
The number of high-quality enterprises holding titles such as high-tech enterprises, specialised and sophisticated enterprises with new technologies, and champion enterprises in single product segments has exceeded 10,000 for the first time, accounting for 34 per cent of export exhibitors. This data confirms the firm pace of Chinese enterprises’ move towards innovation and further demonstrates the rising trend of ‘Intelligent Manufacturing in China’ in the global value chain.
The enthusiasm of global buyers to participate is also remarkable. By the opening day, over 240,000 buyers from 218 countries and regions had completed pre-registration, representing a month-on-month increase of 10 per cent. Among them, the pre-registration of buyers from countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative has increased significantly, fully reflecting the strong cohesion and radiating power of the Canton Fair as a global trade platform.
The secret to the Canton Fair’s popularity lies essentially in the concentrated release of China’s complete industrial chain and innovative vitality. In the grand layout of 55 exhibition areas, from advanced manufacturing to consumer goods for daily life, and from intelligent technology to green and low-carbon sectors, hundreds of thousands of exhibits have built a diverse trade ecosystem. It provides a perfect one-stop window for global buyers to connect with high-quality Chinese supplies.
