136th Canton Fair kicks off, bringing broader market opportunities to trade partners

GUANGZHOU, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- The 136th China Import and Export Fair, popularly known as the Canton Fair, kicked off in Guangzhou, the capital of south China's Guangdong Province, on Tuesday.

Themed "Serving high-quality development, promoting high-level opening-up," this edition of the fair features more than 30,000 exhibitors showcasing 1.15 million new products.

Many new companies, products, technologies and business models are making their debut, attracting 147,000 overseas buyers who have pre-registered for the fair.

According to Chu Shijia, head of the China Foreign Trade Center, over 8,000 exhibitors have been recognized as national high-tech enterprises, "little giants" specializing in niche industries, or manufacturing champions, representing a more than 40 percent increase from the previous edition of the Canton Fair.

Around 390,000 digital and smart products will be showcased, a 300 percent surge compared to the 135th Canton Fair, while the number of green and low-carbon products will rise by 130 percent to 1.04 million.

A survey conducted by the organizers ahead of the fair indicated that 94 percent of exhibitors would bring in new products, and 64.8 percent would showcase products with independent intellectual property rights. More than 1 million new items and products with intellectual property rights are on display, alongside a range of humanoid robots, smart devices and unmanned products making their debut at the fair.

The online platform for the 136th Canton Fair has been further optimized, featuring a virtual digital host and a dedicated Canton Fair app.

The scale of the online exhibition has expanded significantly, with around 48,000 companies uploading approximately 3.75 million products to the platform, an increase of 60 percent and 50 percent, respectively, compared to the previous fair, both of which are historic highs.

As of Monday, buyers from 209 countries and regions had pre-registered for the event. Additionally, 241 of the world's top 250 retailers and leading multinational corporations are participating in the fair.

"Based on indicators such as pre-registrations, hotel bookings and flight reservations, improved attendance of overseas buyers at the 136th Canton Fair is expected," Chu said.

The fair highlights the high-quality development of Chinese products and brands, and China is confident in its ability to offer more and better products -- both "made in China" and "created in China" -- to the world, Chu noted.

The fair will be held in three phases between Oct. 15 and Nov. 4 and is set to include 55 exhibition areas covering 1.55 million square meters. The first phase, running from Oct. 15 to 19, will introduce new topics such as hydrogen energy and feature a dedicated area for energy storage products, attracting over 110 new energy companies.

Launched in 1957 and held twice yearly, the Canton Fair is considered a major gauge of China's foreign trade.