Four notable relocations witness event growing stronger

The long-standing Canton Fair can't be mentioned without talking about its major venue, the Pazhou International Convention and Exhibition Center.

Located in northwestern Guangzhou's Haizhu district, the center equipped with 60,000 booths is one of the world's largest modern and intelligent international exhibition halls.

The Pazhou center was not the first host of the fair, which was debuted in 1957. Over the past 63 years, the Canton Fair was relocated four times in Guangzhou.

The first Canton Fair was held at the former Sino-Soviet Friendship Building in Guangzhou.

Completed in July 1955, the building played host to the first two sessions of the Canton Fair, generating a total turnover exceeding $86 million. 

In 1958, the fair moved to the Exhibition Hall of the Chinese Export Commodities Fair on Qiaoguang Road, after the exhibition hall was completed in the same year. The five-story hall hosted the third to fifth Canton Fair sessions.

The venue's name was created for the event, so even though the venue site had been changed, the name remained until the Pazhou exhibition center was used.

The sixth Canton Fair was held at a new venue in the north of Haizhu Square in 1959, which was 2.65 times that of the previous venue on Qiaoguang Road.

In April 1974, the fair was moved for the third time, from Haizhu Square to Liuhua Road.

The venue on Liuhua Road hosted the fair between 1974 and 2008. During the period, some exhibitions of the 94th-103rd Canton Fair were held at the Pazhou International Convention and Exhibition Center.

The Pazhou center officially became a major venue of the trading event in September 2008 when the 104th Canton Fair completely moved there, marking the fair's fourth relocation.

Nowadays, every spring and autumn, more than 25,000 domestic and overseas companies and 200,000 foreign buyers from over 210 countries and regions gather in Pazhou, helping the Canton Fair develop into an all-round opening-up platform for not only foreign trade, but also industry communication and brand promotion.