The 133rd China Import and Export Fair, the country’s largest trade event, kicked off on April 15 with a grand ceremony. So far, buyers from 226 countries and regions have registered online and offline to attend the event.
The event, also known as the Canton Fair, is resuming all on-site activities in Guangzhou, the capital of South China’s Guangdong province, and will run until May 5. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it had been held largely online since 2020.
Leveraging on precise invitation and efforts of global promotion, many overseas buyers have traveled long distances to this long-awaited event, in a bid to experience once again the bustling scene of numerous business partners gathering together.
Forty-seven industrial and commercial institutions from Asia, Europe, America, Africa and Oceania will witness for themselves the upgrades of China’s manufactures and learn about new development opportunities in the country.
“Over the past three years, we have all felt the speed of innovation in China, especially in the household industry. Chinese products have faster updates and better quality. They are also moving towards a smarter and greener development mode. We hope to find new products and partners at the Canton Fair,” said one of the exhibitors.
In February, the news that the Canton Fair would resume offline exhibitions caused a sensation in Japanese buyer group. Many large Japanese supermarkets and stores expressed their unanimous hope to join in it. Though faced with high airfare prices, buyers arrived at the event without hesitation.
Mr.Gao, chairman of China Information and Culture Exchange Kenya, has been participating in the fair since 2007. He led a business team composed of a group of Kenyan buyers.
“We have been paying attention to the fair after the COVID-19 pandemic. When we learned that the Chinese visa policy was relaxed and the 133rd Canton Fair would fully resume offline exhibitions, we all felt very excited and informed our team members and customers immediately,” Gao said.
“The exhibition area of this Canton Fair is expanded, which has attracted more exhibitors. The newly established exhibition areas cover a wider range of specialty areas such as industrial automation and intelligent manufacturing, new energy and intelligent connected vehicles and smart life. All of these will provide more information and opportunities for our buyers,” Mr.Gao added.
Mr.Gao also recalled the difficulties when attending this year’s event. “It is not easy to obtain visas as China just opened the visa policy on March 15th, which only gave us a very short time to apply for visas. In the past, visas could be processed every day, but now the embassies open only two days a week. Thus, we were under a lot of pressure.”
To optimize the service, the fair has fully implemented online appointment for overseas buyers and streamlined offline visa processing services.
“This provides convenience for buyers as they can submit information declarations before arriving in China, which makes it easier for them to quickly obtain admission badges after arriving,” Mr.Gao said.
The Canton Fair has provided with a platform to communicate with global traders, some buyers from emerging markets such as South America and the Middle East said during the event. They have also overcome various difficulties to participate in the event.
By attending the Canton Fair offline exhibition again, they got the opportunity to communicate face-to-face with new friends and old partners, making them feel deeply encouraged, they said.
Post time: Jun-07-2023