The Canton Fair, China's largest trade fair dubbed the "barometer" of the country's foreign trade, is helping small businesses from suburban regions explore global markets through its international impact.
The ongoing 136th China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, is providing opportunities for businesses from Chinese counties and rural areas to promote their specialty products among international buyers.
A carpet company from Cuihuangkou Town of north China's Tianjin Municipality, which can directly 3D print customized items based on customer requests, showcases a wide array of new offerings at the fair.
"We have developed about 100 products aimed at markets in Europe, the United States, Germany, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Our customers are very pleased with these products, with many placing orders right on the spot. I think this exhibition has been quite successful," said Chen Fanglin, an exhibitor.
With a long history in carpet production, Cuihuangkou is recognized as the "hometown of carpets". The town is home to over 1,200 carpet companies, creating a comprehensive carpet industry that features pattern design, processing and manufacturing, logistics and warehousing.
The Canton Fair has become a key platform for those companies to showcase their carpets to customers from both home and abroad.
"We first participated in the Canton Fair in 2007, and it has been about 17 years since then without interruption. The Canton Fair is relatively well-known on the international level," said Zhang Qiang, an exhibitor.
To better support county-level industries to expand globally, the fair has established a dedicated area for showcasing specialty products from rural and county regions. The section features 227 booths covering 19 categories, including food, sports, tourism and leisure products.
Many unique agricultural products and handicrafts are now opting to go abroad collectively to enhance their international competitiveness and better integrate into the global industrial, supply and value chains.
"We are a company based in Zhaotong City of Yunnan Province. We have brought our local specialties to the Canton Fair, aiming to promote our hometown products to global customers." said Xin Jianlin, an exhibitor.
"We are from Xihe County in Gansu Province's Longnan City. Our booth is a joint booth displaying the agricultural products and handicrafts from several companies." said Zhou Qiang, another exhibitor.
The 136th Canton Fair opened on Oct. 15 and will run through Nov. 4 in three phases, with the first phase ending on Oct 19, the second running from Oct 23 to 27, and the third phase starting on Oct 31.
Over 190,000 overseas buyers from 212 countries and regions participated in the first two phases of the ongoing Canton Fair, up 3.4 percent from the same phases of its previous edition.
Launched in 1957, the biannual Canton Fair takes place every spring and autumn in south China's Guangzhou City.
Canton Fair helps suburban businesses go global
As the 7th China International Import Expo (CIIE) approaches, major exhibitors in the healthcare and skincare sectors have expressed excitement about showcasing their innovative products, fostering collaborations and expanding their reach in the Chinese market.
Themed "New Era, Shared Future," the 7th CIIE is scheduled for November 5-10 in Shanghai, featuring participation from 152 countries, regions and international organizations, including 77 countries and international organizations for national exhibitions and nearly 3,500 exhibitors from 129 countries and regions for business exhibitions.
Many multinationals view the expo as a prime opportunity to display their latest products and seek new collaborations.
Guan Hong, a representative for the Chinese branch of the Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis, reflected on the company's successful participation in previous CIIEs and expressed optimism about introducing innovative products to the Chinese market for the benefit of patients.
"Novartis has attended all the CIIE in the past 7 years. We've really witnessed the medicines [going] from the exhibition finally to the public. In the 2021 CIIE, we got a cooperation agreement with Hainan Bo'ao, and then we piloted the study before we got approval. Last year, we got a fast approval by NMPA (National Medical Products Administration), and now it's already benefited more than 10,000 patients in China. We really want to bring the fast-approach products and innovative products to China as soon as possible to benefit as many patients as possible," said Guan, referring to the annual Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) held in the resort town of Boao, southern China's Hainan Province and the China's National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), the country's top drug regulator.
Jean-Christophe Pointeau, global senior vice president of Pfizer, a U.S.-based pharmaceutical company, expressed optimism about signing memorandums of understanding (MoUs) at this year's edition, citing a favorable regulatory environment for foreign investment in China's biopharmaceutical sector.
"A lot of trade will happen within the ecosystem of healthcare, but also memorandums of understanding. You know that Pfizer, we have a series of MoUs we are going to sign. And recently, from the Third Plenum, we saw that the policies on high-quality development for innovation of the biopharmaceutical sector is one of them, but also policies to ease the foreign investment. So, this environment is extremely positive and extremely encouraging for the multinationals. And that's why Pfizer and other multinationals are extremely confident," Pointeau said, referring to the third plenary session of the 20th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee held this July, which put great emphasis on high-quality development, technological innovation and industrial upgrading.
Japanese cosmetics giant Shiseido has a history of embracing trends in technology, from using humanoid robots in their manufacturing process to developing an augmented reality app to help give users skincare tips. Toshinobu Umetsu, president and CEO of Shiseido China, said the company plans to emphasize its innovations incorporating its products with autonomous driving at this year's CIIE.
"For this year's CIIE, we looked at the 'mobility space' with autonomous driving, which is often seen as an iconic advanced innovation around the world. We invite visitors to discover more about the cornerstone on which Shiseido's innovations are built. So, [we have] globally-leading standards in product safety and quality management," he said.
As the world's first national-level import-themed expo, the CIIE is held annually at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai.
Since its first edition in 2018, this expo has become an important stage spotlighting China's new development paradigm, a platform for high-level opening-up and a public good for the whole world.
Global firms gear up for 7th CIIE with innovative exhibits
