The number of leading global sourcing companies participating in the ongoing 136th China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, hit a historic high of 308 as of Saturday, an increase of 12.4 percent over the previous edition.
This indicates the growing appeal of fair for connecting these firms with their suppliers from across the world.
One hundred and forty-six industrial and commercial organizations from around the world formed delegations to participate in the event, up 18.49 from the last edition.
The 136th Canton Fair has set up a procurement service area designated for leading enterprises and exclusive procurement negotiation booths.
The fair, which kicked off on Oct. 15 and will last through Monday, features 55 exhibition areas covering 1.55 million square meters.
Launched in 1957 and held twice yearly, the Canton Fair is considered a major gauge of China's foreign trade.
More leading global sourcing firms attend Canton Fair
Ports and enterprises in south China's Guangdong Province and Shanghai Municipality, respectively the country's top-ranking province in foreign trade and the leading region in high-level opening-up, witnessed robust international business growth in the first two months of this year.
As one of the busiest ports in the world, the Yantian International Container Port in Guangdong's Shenzhen City handles more than one-third of the province's foreign trade imports and exports.
In the first two months of 2025, foreign trade container throughput at Yantian port reached 2.43 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), a year-on-year increase of 17 percent.
"There are now more than eight 150,000-ton ships operating simultaneously at Yantian port. In the first two months of this year, we have added three new routes to multiple ports in Europe, America and Asia," said Zhong Zuoxin, duty team manager at the port.
Drones, integrated circuits, 3D printers and related products are the most popular category of export products, according to customs officers.
"Mechanical and electrical products account for more than 60 percent of the total export value of all products. Our innovative model of 'loading upon arrival at port' reduces the time that goods stay at the port from three to four days down to two hours," said Huang Peng, deputy chief of the comprehensive business section of Dapeng Customs under Shenzhen Customs.
To keep injecting new vitality into foreign trade, local companies that produce these products are breaking free from environmental constraints and constantly innovating.
For example, a tech company in Shenzhen -- a city where snowfall is unheard of -- has been developing snow removal robot models to better meet the diverse needs of overseas customers.
The company's robot snow blower Yarbo rolled out in 2022 and has since evolved into a highly versatile product. In addition to meeting consumer's wintertime needs, the bot can be equipped with various modules to handle almost all types of yard work, including mowing the lawn and clearing fallen leaves. The model has been receiving surging orders globally.
"In 2024, nearly 10,000 units were shipped worldwide, of which more than 70 percent were sold to North America and 30 percent to Europe," said Niu Haoyang, operation manager of Shenzhen Hanyang Technology.
"This year, we already have orders worth several million U.S. dollars on hand. Our overall order volume should increase five to six times in 2025 compared to 2024," said Song Yongqi, the company's supply chain director.
At Shanghai Xinzhuang Industrial Park, officials have been focusing on strategies to attract more foreign investment and businesses into the area.
By the end of 2024, the industrial zone gathered 18 foreign-funded regional headquarters, 30 foreign-funded research and development centers, and 57 Fortune 500 investment companies, according to Xie Tingyan, director of the park's Investment Promotion Department.
"Our approach is to establish our own industrial alliance. The solution we provide is a number of flexible and diverse cooperation models, which eliminates the concerns of enterprises about investing a lot of money at the beginning," she said.
With the rapid development of emerging fields such as domestic intelligent manufacturing and high-end equipment, many foreign-funded enterprises have seen their business space in the park continue to increase after entering the Chinese market, with some continuously acquiring land more and building factories, according to Xie.
The German precision machinery manufacturer SCHUNK Group is one of them. The group placed many of its latest research and development projects in the base that was just built in Shanghai last year, attracted by the relevant supply chain and talent advantages of the metropolis.
"The supply chain and government guidance can form a block cooperation effect, and such value will achieve the effect of one plus one being greater than two, or even greater than three. We will continue to grow our roots and thrive our business in China," said Du Shangjian, general manager of SCHUNK Intec Precision Machinery (Shanghai).
Belimo, a global leader in field equipment for energy-efficient heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems headquartered in Switzerland, also built an automated warehouse in Shanghai in January this year. Its advanced automated system can pick up and replace materials within the warehouse in 45 seconds.
"When we originally planned the factory, we planned for the future ten years. However, four or five years later, our storage capacity was far from meeting the growth of our business in China," said Wang Haiyan, director of logistics and customization of Belimo Asia Pacific.
Shanghai, Guangdong see robust int'l business growth in 2025
