Never stop! The Canton Fair has witnessed China's economic development speed and innovation vitality for 70 years

From October 15th to November 4th, the 140th Canton Fair was held in Guangzhou in three phases, celebrating its 70th anniversary. The Spring and Autumn Agreement has never been interrupted for seventy years. The Canton Fair has not only become the "barometer" and "wind vane" of China's export commodities, but also witnessed the level, speed and innovative vitality of New China's economic development.

The value of the Canton Fair is first reflected in its "never-ending" persistence. Over the past 70 years, the Canton Fair has grown from 9,600 square meters and 1,200 buyers in the first session to 1.55 million square meters and 310,000 buyers today. It has been uninterrupted for 140 sessions. As "China's No. 1 Exhibition", the Canton Fair held twice a year in spring and autumn not only allows foreign businessmen to witness China's ever-changing development vitality, but also allows the world to witness China's consistent determination to adhere to the opening-up in the ups and downs of the international economic and trade situation: China's door of opening up will only open wider and wider. China has always been a stable and reliable partner in global trade by making connections with the world and benefiting from mutual benefits.

Persistence does not mean perseverance. The secret of the Canton Fair's long-lasting prosperity in doing business with the world for 70 years lies in innovation and transcendence that keep pace with the times. Looking back at the starting point, the first Canton Fair only brought together Chinese local specialties and traditional handicrafts, opening up foreign economic and trade channels with one-way exports. In 2007, the 101st Canton Fair was officially renamed from the "China Export Commodity Fair" to the "China Import and Export Commodity Fair", transforming from a single export commodity trading platform to a two-way trading platform for import and export commodities, becoming an important platform for global commodities to enter the Chinese market. In 2021, the Canton Fair will launch a new model of integrated online and offline exhibitions. Procurement and sales docking will extend short-term on-site negotiations into all-weather normal links, creating a "never-ending" higher-level international trade platform, which has greatly promoted trade exchanges and friendly exchanges between China and other countries and regions around the world.

The iteration of the Canton Fair's exhibits and exhibition formats also reflects the transition of the times in China's industries, industries and even China's large market. Among the 32,000 exhibiting companies at this year's Canton Fair, more than 11,000 companies specialize in special innovations and are champions in individual categories. 64% of the exhibiting companies apply new technologies such as the industrial Internet and artificial intelligence. Cutting-edge technology products such as new energy storage, embodied intelligence, and smart medical care are concentrated for the first time. It is expected to attract more than 210,000 overseas purchasers. Previously, many businessmen were fascinated by the iteration speed of China's smart products and marveled at the efficiency of Chinese companies in realizing demands and cooperation intentions. Transnational giants have also regarded China as the source of global technology, Chinese standards driven by high-speed rail trade have gone global, and new energy vehicle companies have deployed overseas markets... The Canton Fair is witnessing the innovative vitality of China's leap from "world factory" to "global market", from "production to order" to global resource allocation, and from "Made in China" to "Created in China".

In the context of the current profound adjustment of the global trade pattern and the increase in unilateralism, protectionism and various uncertainties, the 70-year development practice of the Canton Fair has proved that only by adhering to reform and opening up and adhering to innovation-driven development can we move forward through development bottlenecks and our "circle of friends" will become larger and larger. Only by expanding high-level opening up to the outside world and promoting new and better economic development can we better promote the Chinese-style modernization process and benefit the world.