The 135th Canton Fair opens on April 15th, and the preparation progresses smoothly

The 135th session of China Import and Export Fair will open on April 15th. Mr. Zhou Shanqing, Director General of the Canton Fair Press Center, Deputy Director General of China Foreign Trade Centre, introduced the preparations of this session to press.

The CPC Central Committee and the State Council attach great importance to the Canton Fair. President Xi Jinping sent two congratulatory letters to the Canton Fair in which he fully recognized the historical significance of the Fair and charted a course for its future. Report on the Work of the Government (2024) pointed out that major trade events such as the Canton Fair should be hosted well. In the context of the current foreign trade dynamics, the success of the 135th Canton Fair carried a multitude of significance. It serves to help enterprises secure more orders and expand markets as well as to stabilize the fundamentals of foreign trade and foreign investment. Furthermore, it would boost the quality, expanded the scale of foreign trade, as well as the high-quality business development, providing strong support for overall economic recovery and growth. The Canton Fair has demonstrated China’s resolution to expand high-level opening up and promote Chinese modernization, boosting an open world economy and cooperation for mutual benefits.

Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era, the 135th Canton Fair has implemented the spirit of the 20th CPC Congress, the Second Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, the Central Economic Work Conference and President Xi Jinping’s congratulatory letters. Following the instructions of National Commerce Work Conference and National Foreign Trade Work Conference and the “three important” positioning of commerce work, we will pursue progress while maintaining stability, optimize the structure and improve the quality and outcomes of foreign trade, and strive to serve the high-quality development of foreign trade with a newer image, perfected services and better outcomes.

The 135th Canton Fair is themed “targeting high-quality development and advancing high-level opening up”. The onsite exhibition of the Fair will be held in 3 phases from April 15th to May 5th. Meanwhile, online exhibition will continue regular operation. The total exhibition area has reached 1.55 million m2 with 55 exhibition sections. 29,000 exhibitors (28,600 enterprises from the National Pavilion and 680 enterprises from the International Pavilion) participate onsite, with 74,000 booths (72,000 booths from the National Pavilion and 1,557 booths from the International Pavilion). Under the leadership of the Ministry of Commerce and the People's Government of Guangdong Province, the preparation of this session progressed smoothly and has been basically completed through joint efforts of all parties.

The 135th Canton Fair has worked hard to improve the quality of exhibition organization. Firstly, in this session we have optimized the structure of exhibition themes. Building upon our comprehensive exhibition strengths, we have highlighted specialized sectors. Specifically, for Phase I, the focus is on “Advanced Manufacturing”, Phase II “Quality Home Furnishings”, and Phase III “Better Life”. New themes have been fostered with more efforts, including New Energy Vehicles and Smart Mobility, Industrial Automation, Smart Manufacturing, New Energy, and “new three” products. Smart Life Zone has been substantially expanded. Meanwhile, we have rescheduled 7 sections for different phases, including Building and Decorative Materials and Sanitary and Bathroom Equipment, Toys, Children, Baby and Maternity Products, Pet Products & Food, Personal Care and Toiletries. The exhibition themes are more distinct with better coordination. Secondly, the National Pavilion serves to develop new quality productive forces. There are 2,606 brand booths. Over 5,500 enterprises held titles such as National High-tech Enterprise, Manufacturing Single Champion, and “little giants” that specialize in their niche sectors, up by 20% over the last session. New exhibitors have exceeded 4,300; and private enterprises account for 91%. Over 1 million new products are expected to be showcased onsite, including 450,000 green and low-carbon products, and 250,000 self-owned intellectual property products. Thirdly, the number of source countries of the International Pavilion has increased. The International Pavilion has an exhibition area of 30,000 m2 and has attracted 680 exhibiting international companies from 50 countries and regions, including 64% of BRI countries. Fourthly, new forms of trade have been introduced. Cross-border e-commerce pilot zone and overseas warehouse zone were set up for the first time, with a total exhibition area of 3,000 m2. 165 e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones are promoted on the Canton Fair online platform.

The 135th Canton Fair has taken multiple measures to improve targeted global marketing. We worked hard to expand channels and extend the reach of promotion, especially targeted promotion. Firstly, the Canton Fair enhanced promotion and cooperation with 226 economic and commercial offices of Chinese embassies and consulates, 69 foreign consulates general in Guangzhou, 195 Global Cooperative Partners, and 11 institutions and trading delegations. Road shows in multiple routes to EU, Asia, Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa have been organized. Secondly, targeted invitation have been organized to cover key markets including European and American markets, Belt and Road countries, as well as top traders like Fortune Global 500 companies and Global Retail 250 companies. Thirdly, we have scaled up media promotion and cooperated with financial institutions, airline companies and business travel agencies to reach out to more potential specialized buyers. Fourthly, specialized content based on categorized customers and key themes has been created to conduct targeted email marketing. As of April 13th, 144,000 buyers from 215 countries and regions have completed pre-registration. Specifically, buyers from the US increase by 21.4%, those from the OECD up by 13%, those from the Middle East up by 24.7%, those from the BRI countries up by 45.9%, and those from the RCEP member countries up by 15.5%. More than 288 leading enterprises and business organizations have confirmed to attend the Fair, up by 21.5% over the last session.

The 135th Canton Fair continues to optimize the functions of its online platform. Focusing on accurate matching, smooth communication and convenient management, we have optimized 47 functions of the online platform to facilitate convenient and efficient trade matchmaking. First, optimize the function of trade matchmaking. Buyers are able to search product category through key word when they post sourcing request, thus creating a better match between buyers and suppliers; and the feature of tracing the origin of business opportunities based on scenarios to improve management convenience. Second, optimize instant communication function. New features of user online status prompt, chat grouping, historical message search and export have been added. Meanwhile, information card sending function is developed, including sending information of exhibitors and products and live-streaming to improve communication smoothness. Third, optimize the services of the online platform. To facilitate integrated development of the online and onsite Fair, functions such as integrating the basic data of online and onsite exhibitors and providing free basic package and statistical analysis have been introduced. To attract onsite exhibitors to participate the Fair online, functions of online services are highlighted.

The 135th Canton Fair has enhanced the pragmatic results of trade matchmaking activities. Over 600 trade matchmaking activities will be held. Firstly, highlight New Collection activities. We will work with authorities like China Electric Institute and leading enterprises to release new products and technologies, and plan to hold 300 New Collection activities. Meanwhile, promotion activities on a dedicated column on the official website and the live-streaming on international social media will be staged and targeted buyer delegations will be invited to participate, to help enterprises expand business opportunities. Secondly, enhance the pragmatic results of trade matchmaking activities. Over 210 “Trade Bridge” Promotion/ Global Trade Matchmaking events will be held, as 158 of which have been held successfully, covering a dozen of industries such as Electronics and Household Appliances, Building Materials and Furniture, Home Textiles, and Children Baby and Maternity Products. We will explore cooperation with institutions like cross-border e-commerce platforms and cross-border payment platforms. Custom-made trade matchmaking activities will also be launched based on targeted industries and markets. Thirdly, hold market-based industrial activities. A dozen of industrial activities will be held based on themes like new quality productive forces and high quality industrial development, high quality export empowered by new channels and models, new strategic opportunities of global market, innovation of overseas e-commerce promotion for smart household appliances, IPR, the future illuminated by AI, etc. We will join hands with think tanks, industrial organizations, financial institutions and consulting firms to hold a dozen of industrial activities to support enterprises to diversify the market mix and explore new business patterns and channels.

The 135th Canton Fair has comprehensively improved services. With the goal of improving the experience of exhibitors and buyers, Canton Fair services have comprehensively improved. Firstly, increase the efficiency of badge service. We have implemented efficient measures, like allowing badge application in advance and at alternative registration offices, and offering 24-hour onsite registration service. 271 registration offices have been set up in exhibition areas, airports, ports and hotels for overseas buyers, 34 more than the last session, thus substantially reducing the waiting time during peak hours. Secondly, optimize payment environment. Exchange machines and portable POS receipt printers have been set up to facilitate payment. Foreigners can also pay with cash, overseas bank cards and mobile payment. Thirdly, enhance transportation services. To enhance the transportation capacity, the frequency of metro has been increased during peak time. Traffic coordination has been bettered as pick-up and drop-off areas have been optimized with more parking space for shuttle buses. To improve the efficiency of lorries, appointment services are offered and lorry drivers will be guided to enter the waiting area in different time. Fourthly, enrich catering services. A new Food & Beverages area has been set up in the West Comprehensive Service Center, Area D. Catering units have been increased to 74. The daily maximum meals offered have reached 104,000 while the number of seats increased to 14,400. The catering system is optimized as food variety has been enriched, including western fast food, vegan food and Cantonese food. Meanwhile, food delivery services have also been enhanced. Fifthly, upgrade the Fair’s overall image. We have increased input in refining the environment within the Complex to by setting up multiple instagrammable photo spots. A brand-new image is created with the opening of the Canton Fair Convention Center, fully upgraded outdoor exhibition areas, clearer signage in exhibition areas and newly-designed lamp post banners. Sixthly, create better atmosphere. Social and cultural promotion activities are organized, including Canton Tower thematic display, Pearl River light show, Chinese lion dance and Yingge dance at the Complex, musical Bond of Love and documentary debut, thus creating positive public atmosphere about the Fair. Seventhly, expand trade service. To provide comprehensive and whole industry chain services for enterprises, trade service zone has been set up and 209 trade service enterprises are introduced to provide 7 major services, including logistics and warehousing, testing and certification, financial insurance, etc. Eighthly, strengthen IPR protection. We have set up complaint stations and invited China National Intellectual Property Administration, authorities from IPR protection in Guangzhou and Guangdong Province, and experts of trade dispute arbitration and mediation to attend the Fair, to offer one-stop solutions for IPR protection, contract enforcement, etc.

The 135th Canton Fair has promoted green development. We continue to promote green development of the whole chain, and improve the quality of green development to implement the strategy of carbon peak and carbon neutrality with practical progress. First, organize more green and low-carbon exhibits. To help the green manufacturing industry develop and go global, trading delegations and enterprises have been encouraged to display more smart, eco-friendly, green and low-carbon exhibits. Second, carry out regular green exhibition organization. Onsite exhibitions will be held in accordance with the target of 100% green booth while strengthening the implementation of solid waste and noise control. Meanwhile, carry out green booth selection to improve the overall exhibition level. Third, accelerate the application of green standards. We have carried out promotion of national standards of green booth flooring compiled by China Foreign Trade Centre. We have also implemented the released national standards -- Green Booth Evaluation Guide, Basic Requirements for Safety Management of Exhibition Venues and Green Exhibition Operation Guide. We will speed up the promotion and practice of these standards to drive green development of the exhibition industry.

The 135th Canton Fair has strengthened overall arrangement to guarantee security. We will comprehensively strengthen the safety work in key areas such as equipment use, booth construction, water and electricity utilization, fire and explosion prevention, food safety, traffic guidance and the online platform. We will continue to ensure the stable operation of the online platform with high standard.

We will also strengthen booth management and strive to crack down on illegal transfer and sublease of booths. Exhibitors that have acquired booths are requested to use booths strictly in accordance with regulations.

Canton Fair Call Centre

Canton Fair Hong Kong Representative Office