Today (4th), the 140th Canton Fair came to an end. This year coincides with the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Canton Fair. Over the past 70 years, the Canton Fair has become my country's largest international trade event with the longest history, the most comprehensive products, the most customers, and the best transactions. It is also the world-renowned "China's No. 1 Exhibition." How to interpret the changes of the times in the 70 years since the Canton Fair was founded? Who is included in the first buyer alliance? What's the use?
The Canton Fair here has just come to an end, and immediately afterwards, the 9th China International Import Expo will open in Shanghai tomorrow (5th). At present, the exhibition setup work has been completed, the exhibits at each major booth are in place, the equipment has been debugged, and all service support work is ready. From the Canton Fair to the China International Import Expo, how will China further cooperate with the world for win-win results?
First, let’s get to know a special foreign businessman participating in this Canton Fair. He is special because he wore two different IDs at the exhibition. His name is Jan Schmidt, from Poland. When we met him, he was receiving overseas merchants at his booth. Hang a blue buyer's card and a purple exhibitor's card on his body at the same time. In such a large exhibition hall, such a situation is rare.
Polish buyer JAN SZMIDT: Usually blue certificates are for buyers and purple ones are for exhibitors. I have two identities in this industry. This feels very different, after all, not many people can do it.
Yang Schmidt’s relationship with China began in 1995. That year, he received an invitation from the Chinese Embassy in Poland and set foot on Chinese soil for the first time and came to the Canton Fair. Participating in the Canton Fair for the first time in 1995 was a very wonderful experience. The good impression left by his first participation in the Canton Fair made Yang Schmidt choose to come to Guangzhou again in 1996. The encounter that changed the trajectory of his career happened at this Canton Fair.
Su Gang, person in charge of Yiertuo Tools (Jiaxing) Co., Ltd.: They were resting outside at that time. I saw a tool sample in his hand, so I patted his shoulder and said, I am also a tool maker. Come to our booth. So he went, to our booth. I remember that my first business was about a container, and it was also the first pot of gold I earned from participating in the Canton Fair.
In the following ten years of contact, the buyer from Poland, Jan Schmidt, and the supplier from China, Su Gang, gradually became friends from business partners. As trust continued to deepen, the two parties joined hands to establish a foreign trade company in China in 2008, with complete import and export qualifications. As China's foreign trade market continues to unleash vitality, their business scale has also achieved geometric growth over the years.
Su Gang, person in charge of Yiertuo Tools (Jiaxing) Co., Ltd.: From more than 100 products to 15,000 products, from simple hand tools to power tools to small machinery, we now cover a wide range, and our products are sold to 1,670 countries.
JAN SZMIDT, Polish buyer: In terms of turnover, last year we exported more than one billion yuan from here, and this year we expect to purchase 1.2 billion yuan from China. The situation this year looks pretty good. We will add new suppliers at every exhibition, and this time there may be more than twenty. Now we have about a thousand suppliers in China, 70 to 80 percent of which were found at the Canton Fair, compared with only two in the beginning.
The business is getting bigger and bigger, but in Yang Schmidt's mind, the gains from the Canton Fair go far beyond orders and sales. Over the past thirty years, many of the partners he met at the Canton Fair have become his close friends in life. In 2018, my daughter held her wedding in Poland. We invited nearly 60 Chinese friends, and they all came. We value friendships like this, not just business. I am sixty-two years old and have been coming to the Canton Fair for thirty years, almost half of my life, so it is like my family and I like this big family very much.
The 140th Canton Fair established the Buyers Alliance for the first time. A blue card and a purple card witness the journey of an overseas businessman from afar to taking root in China and creating a business together. The Canton Fair is not just a platform for individual face-to-face encounters among exhibitors. With the upgrading and development of the exhibition's influence, this Canton Fair also ushered in an important trade promotion measure - the formal establishment of the Buyers Alliance. The alliance mainly provides more precise services to the world's top 500 companies and key purchasers from various countries. Promote exhibition services from simple reception guarantee to a stage of multi-party collaboration and value co-creation.
The Buyers Alliance will build a regular communication platform to provide members with one-on-one exclusive docking, participation in special economic and trade activities, priority access to new product information and other supporting rights. Relying on the alliance platform, a more stable trade contact chain can be established between leading buyers and between buyers and the Canton Fair, and more cross-border cooperation opportunities can be explored.
Zeng Ping, Deputy Director of the External Liaison Office of the China Foreign Trade Center: This time, our first batch of buyer alliances has 58 leading purchasing companies from 32 countries and regions. We have further collected more of their real voices and needs, and also helped our domestic exhibitors to better connect with the international market.
Buyer Alliance Member German Buyer Jan Pych: It is a real honor to be a member of the Alliance. This is a very good form. Trade is not just cold data and revenue growth. It is ultimately a business between people. In challenging times, it is crucial to work together to resist risks and support each other.
Zhou Mi, a researcher at the Institute of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce: In the past 70 years since the Canton Fair, the world has undergone earth-shaking changes. Through the Canton Fair, we have seen that China has always maintained an open and developing direction. For example, we have seen that the area of the Canton Fair, the number of exhibitors, and the number of commodities involved have increased significantly. The added value and technological content of the products involved have also increased significantly. Exhibitors and merchants coming to the Canton Fair are not only looking forward to selling more goods to China, but also hoping for a better interaction between China and the world. So I think these changes show that the development of the times has a clear impact on the relationship between China and the world. In this process, China has also ensured the stability and security of the global supply chain with a more confident attitude and more powerful measures. Therefore, the Canton Fair is a global trade vane. It provides an important platform and effective support for our economic and trade relations with the world. It also provides very favorable conditions for us to continuously promote innovation, so that more merchants can obtain the dividends of development with China and achieve their own sustainable development.
The 9th China International Import Expo will open in Shanghai tomorrow (5th). At present, the exhibition setup work has been completed, the exhibits at each major booth are in place, the equipment has been debugged, and all service support work is ready. From the Canton Fair to the China International Import Expo, how can China further cooperate with the world for win-win results? Will the pace of shared and win-win development be implemented and deepened?
Zhou Mi, a researcher at the Institute of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce: The Canton Fair mainly targets the export of Chinese manufacturing to the world. The CIIE is more about China providing trade and export opportunities to the world with its ever-expanding and growing market. China has created greater space for development for the world, which is commendable when global consumption and imports are facing many uncertainties. We have received products from more countries, and they have also launched innovative products in China for the first time in the world.
