Canton Fair Accelerates its Digital Transformation

At the opening press conference of the 123rd Canton Fair on April.14th, Mr. Xu Bing, spokesperson of the Canton Fair, Deputy Director General of China Foreign Trade Centre, introduced relevant information of the construction of Smart Canton Fair. 

In order to implement the national “Internet+” and big data strategy, and realize innovation, development, transformation and upgrading, in December 2015, China Foreign Trade Centre formulated the “Action Plan for Promoting the Canton Fair + Internet and Building Smart Canton Fair”, so as to provide one-stop and online-offline services including pre-exhibition, match making, smart services, smart business travel, Canton Fair certification, and enterprise promotion. The Canton Fair’s exhibition and service quality will be fully improved, and the Fair will be fostered to be a 24/7 trade promotion platform. 

Xu Bing said that the Canton Fair has now launched Exhibitor and Products Inquiry system, the revised official website and the new APP, as well as multiple functions including electronic maps, smart conference assistants, etc., and has achieved good results as follows:

Information applications are very popular. After the Exhibitor and Products Inquiry system was launched, Chinese and overseas customers have shown increased attention to Canton Fair’ exhibitors and exhibits. The average daily traffic during the Canton Fair exceeded 25,000. After the revision of the official website of the Canton Fair, the number of visits increased by 45%. The “Buyers’ Focus” provides exhibitors with information on the exhibitors and exhibits that buyers are interested in, and the exhibitors continue to gain attention. 

Big data applications are further advanced. At present, the Canton Fair data analysis application platform has been preliminarily established. The theme charts of current buyers’ focus and on-site services have been established and presented visually on the big screen to display all aspects of the Canton Fair and satisfy customers’ needs, which will provide reference for government decisions.  

The upgrading of information hardware and software was speeded up. The Complex opened 48 "information stations" providing various information services. With the acceleration of Content Delivery Network (CDN) and introduction of overseas network lines, the speed of overseas users visiting the official website of the Canton Fair has increased by 30%, and the speed of accessing BEST has increased. The email delivery channel of the Canton Fair was optimized, and the delivery rate of marketing email in overseas regions increased. The upgraded Canton Fair Mobile App provides map location, code-scanning to connect WiFi, Exhibitor & Products inquiries, conference & forums, business travel services and other functions, and is widely welcomed by customers.

Xu Bing said that the construction of smart Canton Fair is currently progressing steadily as planned. The first is to continue to optimize the Exhibitor & Product inquiry system. We optimize the intelligent search engine and innovate display mode to warm up the Canton Fair in advance. Up to now, about 25,000 companies have uploaded 171,236 exhibits. The second is to continue to promote "Highlight Products" column.  This column set up on the official website is a good channel to promote brand enterprises. The third is to build an intelligent service ecosystem. We upgrade the wireless network in the exhibition hall, expand the contents of big data display, introduce new technologies for smart badge application, simplify the pre-application procedure on BEST, and promote smart exhibit moving, so as to offer convenient services to our customers. 

Xu Bing said that after the completion of the smart Canton Fair, online services will cover the entire process of before, during and after the exhibition. Exhibitors can use online services to complete setting-up and dismantling and search for buyers’ focus. Buyers can pre-search for exhibitors and exhibits to make efficient and reasonable business travel plans and improve sourcing efficiency. The Smart Canton Fair is dedicated to enhancing exhibition services and optimizing customer experience. It will also use digital intelligence tools to effectively develop and apply big data, providing both parties with more accurate trade analysis and matching services, creating more business opportunities and helping enterprises to use Canton Fair as a platform to explore the international market.

Canton Fair News Center