Serving as an international trade hub in China for hundreds of years, Guangdong province has been a pioneer of the nation’s opening-up over the recent century, especially in the seven decades after the founding of the People’s Republic of China.As the permanent host province of the biannual Canton Fair, Guangdong’s role as an opening-up pioneer in modern China is indispensably linked with the largest expo for international trade in the world. In its history of 64 years, Canton Fair, taking its roots in Guangdong and serving the entire country and the global business community, has been an important showcase of China’s socioeconomic development and a crucial platform to facilitate trade.Guangdong has been China’s most important province for foreign trade for more than 30 consecutive years and officials and experts say Canton Fair has contributed a vital driving force to the strong growth momentum.Back in April 1957, the first Canton Fair was launched in Guangzhou, the capital city of Guangdong province, with the support of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council.The central authorities made the decision to hold a large-scale trade show in Guangdong in the hopes of breaking the blockade against China by Western powers and to promote foreign trade.The provincial capital of Guangzhou was selected as the host city because of its centuries-old tradition in foreign trade and its vicinity to Hong Kong and Macao. The relationship between Guangdong and Canton Fair is complementary and mutually supporting.Since the late 1970s when China began its reform and opening-up, Guangdong, especially the Pearl River Delta region, has rapidly developed into a leading trading and manufacturing powerhouse. Guangdong has been dubbed as the “manufacturing plant of the world” for decades. Its fame as a manufacturing powerhouse is closely related to Canton Fair because it created a venue for displaying Guangdong-made products to the world. And the increasing recognition and popularity of Guangdong products are a vital driving force to push Guangdong’s exports to new heights.The rich variety of products on display, which are sought after among buyers worldwide, has also helped to increase the international business community’s enthusiasm for the fair. As a result, the scale and influence of Canton Fair has grown continuously.Figures from the event’s organizers show that the exhibition area of the fair has increased from 9,600 square meters in the first session to more than 1.18 million sq m in recent sessions. The number of buyers’ visits increased from 1,223 to about 200,000 and the number of exhibitors rose from 13 to more than 26,000 in the current session.Starting from a fair focusing on China’s exports, when its original formal name was the China Export Commodities Fair, Canton Fair has developed into today’s event with the official name of the China Import and Export Fair, showing the event has developed into a more comprehensive platform for international trade.Along with its increasing authoritativeness and global influence, Canton Fair has been recognized by the international business community as the most important trade show in China and a “barometer of China’s foreign trade”.Guangdong has been one of the largest beneficiaries of the event.Over the decades, a large number of enterprises in Guangdong have made full use of the event to build connections with old and new clients and make deals. Enterprises from Guangdong have been among the most active players in Canton Fair. Among the 26,000-plus Chinese exhibitors at the current Canton Fair session, 4,295 are from Guangdong. The Guangdong exhibitors are displaying their products at about 13,000 booths, accounting for 21.7 percent of the total number of booths booked by Chinese exhibitors.To take full advantage of the Canton Fair, the Guangdong delegation has been among the most professional organizers that can offer a rich variety of activities on the event’s different platforms.The events organized by the Guangdong delegation include promotions for local brands, events introducing local companies and products to international buyers, seminars on the latest trends in trade and industries, as well as various networking events.With Canton Fair moving online since the 127th session due to the global outbreak of COVID-19, the Guangdong delegation has made great efforts to help exhibitors get familiar with online platforms and tools and hold online business matchmaking events between local and overseas companies.Solidifying the client base and learning the changing trends of the markets and industries through Canton Fair, Guangdong has seen steady growth in foreign trade, even in the difficult year of 2020.Guangdong’s foreign trade volume reached 7.08 trillion yuan ($1.09 trillion) last year, accounting for about 22 percent of China’s total foreign trade volume.
