From Liuhua to Pazhou: Seventy Years of Changes in the Eyes of "Old Cantonese"

The 140th Canton Fair was held in Pazhou, Guangzhou on the 15th. In the exhibition hall, new energy storage, embodied intelligence, smart medical and other technological products were eye-catching. On that day, the "70 Years of Cantonese Trade in the World" themed exhibition opened simultaneously at the Guangzhou Liuhua Exhibition and Trade Center. Guangcai porcelain coffee sets, "Triangle" rice cookers, "Dongfeng" watches... each old object strung together the memory of China's foreign trade across the ages.

In April 1957, the first Canton Fair was held at Liuhua Exhibition and Trade Center (formerly Guangzhou Sino-Soviet Friendship Building). Paper umbrellas, clogs, bamboo weaving, lacquerware, olive carvings and other products became popular goods. In 1999, at the 86th Canton Fair, mechanical and electrical products ranked first in terms of transaction volume. In today's Canton Fair, consumer electronics have become the absolute main attraction.

Three generations of Li Zhifeng, deputy secretary-general of the Hong Kong Chinese Import and Export Chamber of Commerce, have participated in the Canton Fair. His grandfather Li Huan took a coal-fired train from Hong Kong to Guangzhou to attend the first Canton Fair. He has continued to participate in the exhibition since then, allowing Chinese brands to go global.

"My grandpa once said that in the early years, we would sell whatever good products China had. We would often take orders with the left hand and transfer orders with the right hand." Li Zhifeng told reporters that he and his grandpa attended the Canton Fair for the first time when he was 18 and witnessed the changes in China's exhibits. "What I saw at first were products processed from supplied materials. Later, Chinese companies gradually designed good products. Now many new products are things we have never seen overseas."

With the changes of the times, the role of Hong Kong buyers in the Canton Fair has also quietly changed, from a transit station for "borrowing overseas" in the early days to a "super connector" with deep participation and two-way docking. Behind this is the industrial upgrading of China's manufacturing industry from "selling products" to "selling capabilities" and "selling ecology".

"Hong Kong buyers can use their own advantages to understand the actual needs of each country, and then connect with mainland suppliers to play the role of super contact." Li Zhifeng said.

Since its inception, the Canton Fair has quickly become the main channel for China's foreign trade. After the reform and opening up, the number of exhibitors at the Canton Fair has grown rapidly. A large number of well-known national brands such as Haier and Midea have obtained overseas orders from the Canton Fair and entered the international market. Entering a new era, foreign trade companies of different types and ownership compete on the same stage at the Canton Fair.

As a long-established foreign trade company, Qingchu Company, a subsidiary of Guangzhou Light Industry Group, has never been absent from the Canton Fair since its establishment in 1956. Its exhibits have expanded from light industrial products to hardware, building materials and other bulk commodities, with annual import and export volume exceeding US$700 million.

Zhai Hui, deputy general manager of Qingchu Company, said that the popularity of the Canton Fair has brought a lot of opportunities to new companies and also contributed to considerable orders. "Many of our big customers got to know each other at the Canton Fair, and some have been working together for nearly 20 years. They don't even need to go to the factory, and they place orders worth hundreds of thousands of dollars directly."

John Anton Creamer, executive director of Germany's Rosenberg Group, is also an "old Canton Fair". He participated in the Canton Fair for the first time in 1989 and has participated in more than 50 exhibitions so far, witnessing the development of the Canton Fair for more than 30 years. "The exhibits at the Canton Fair have undergone earth-shaking changes. Now we see electronic products and robots, and the products are becoming more and more intelligent." John Anton Creamer said that the company exports about 6,000 containers from China every year, with a total value of more than 200 million US dollars.

This year coincides with the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Canton Fair. From Liuhua Road to Pazhou, from agricultural and sideline products to robots and drones, the changes in the exhibits at the Canton Fair are the epitome of China's manufacturing from "following" to "leading".