Overseas trade plays a role in fight against poverty

Su Xiao, a young entrepreneur from Gansu province, said he would never thought a trade fair could change the fates of disadvantaged families in his hometown.

That change resulted from Su’s experience of attending Canton Fair for the first time two years ago in an attempt to expand his company’s overseas market.

Su runs his family business Xuehe, a factory that produces products for the ethnic people in Linxia, Gansu province.

“At the beginning, our company only developed in the domestic market and our caps featuring ethnic characteristics were in great demand,” Su said.

However, with a changing market trend, the demand for the embroidered caps from domestic clients has decreased, he added.

Since then, Su began to seek opportunities to expand overseas.

“For a small factory in southwest China, we lack information and resources,” Su recalled.

He said he had heard about Canton Fair but did not know how to participate and his initial attempts were blocked by a high agency fee.

In 2018, the situation turned around thanks to an inspection tour by local officials to his factory.

“The officials agreed that the products would see a promising development in the international market,” Su said. He added that his factory was offered the chance to attend the 125th Canton Fair.

Su said that his company attracted buyers from Somalia for the first time at the fair in 2018, a step into the African market.

By expanding its overseas market through Canton Fair, Su’s company has received huge demand for the caps in Africa.

“Through the fair, we not only made friends with overseas clients but have a new recognition of the international markets,” Su said.

On top of this, Su set up a workshop for poverty alleviation, which has provided job opportunities for more than 200 local farmers. 

“The fair brings us great commercial opportunities and helps boost our business, and that plays a role in fighting poverty and striving for a well-off life,” Su said.

As a key player in alleviating poverty through industrial development, Canton Fair has provided nearly 5,000 booths with preferential prices for more than 3,000 companies from impoverished areas to date, the organizer said.