China News Service, Guangzhou, November 4. Title: Closing of the 140th Canton Fair: Seventy Years of China's Foreign Trade in Three Changes
China News Service reporter Cai Minjie
The 140th China Import and Export Fair concluded in Guangzhou on the 4th. This year's Canton Fair coincides with the 70th anniversary of its founding. Three changes reflect the direction of China's foreign trade.
The scale of the platform continues to expand
The exhibition area of the first China Export Commodity Fair was only 9,600 square meters. Today, the exhibition area of the Canton Fair has reached 1.55 million square meters, with 32,000 exhibitors.
Over the past 70 years, the Canton Fair's exhibits have gradually expanded from mainly grain, oil, livestock, and handicrafts to categories such as electronic home appliances, medicine and health, and new energy equipment. Behind the expansion of scale is the enhancement of China's foreign trade ability to participate in the global division of labor, and the transformation of the exhibition from a single export window to a comprehensive international trade platform.
"Here, a large number of our partners are brought together in one venue." Rolim Vilarica Luis Filipe, a Portuguese buyer, said that by focusing on contacting merchants and capturing new opportunities in a short period of time, the exhibition has greatly improved the efficiency of business negotiations.
Exhibit structure accelerated upgrade
The proportion of new products exhibited at this Canton Fair was 23.2%, and the proportion of green products was 26%. Both indicators reached new highs. There were more than 700 new product launch events, and the number of launches increased by 15% compared with the previous session. Among the 32,000 exhibiting companies, there are more than 11,000 high-quality companies that specialize in new technologies and individual champions, and 64% of the exhibiting companies apply new technologies such as industrial Internet and artificial intelligence.
The structural changes of the exhibits are more intuitive. Wang Jingyi, deputy general manager of the Western European branch of Guangdong Lingfeng Household Products Co., Ltd., said that the European market has increased demand for environmentally friendly stainless steel, environmentally friendly aluminum pots, uncoated pots, etc. Green certification is not only a condition for entering the market, but also helps to increase the added value of products. The smart bionic hand exhibited by Shanghai Aoyi Information Technology Co., Ltd. is equipped with self-developed non-invasive myoelectric sensing and AI decoding algorithms, which can realize 27 daily grasping movements. The company is connecting with rehabilitation medical institutions and agents in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and other places.
These changes show that more and more Chinese companies are increasing their added value through technology, branding and green certification.
Multi-dimensional extension of global connections
About 1,200 buyers attended the first Canton Fair. This year's Canton Fair attracted approximately 352,000 overseas purchasers. The growth in the number of buyers also means that the connection methods are changing. Today, buyers are looking more for overall solutions, long-term partners and supply chain collaboration capabilities. 36.5% of the exhibitors at this Canton Fair have implemented the "product + service" model transformation.
At this Canton Fair, Fosun Health demonstrated its comprehensive capabilities of "technology + medical + international services". "Relying on our international medical service network covering Southeast Asia, Central Asia and even the world, our cross-border service capabilities are continuing to deepen. Now is a critical time to explore the cross-border medical market." said Hu Hang, Chairman and CEO of Fosun Health.
At this Canton Fair, nearly 20% of the 32,000 exhibiting companies have made overseas investments, creating more than 200,000 local jobs.
"We not only realize the output of advanced technology and productivity, but also drive local employment and the optimization and upgrading of the industrial chain." Wu Bin, general manager of the Southern Europe Region of Gree Electric Appliances International Trading Co., Ltd., said that the company relies on core technologies and independent and controllable industrial chains to calmly cope with the complex and ever-changing international trade environment.
Over the past seventy years, the Canton Fair's exhibits, technologies, and trade models have been constantly updated, but China's foundation of insisting on open cooperation and serving the global market with stable supply has remained unchanged. The competitiveness of China's foreign trade is moving towards a better structure, stronger technology, louder brands, and more complete services.
