Booming Canton Fair demonstrates resilience of Chinese foreign trade

The booming China Import and Export Fair or Canton Fair has demonstrated the resilience of Chinese foreign trade, Chinanews.com reported on Wednesday.

A total of 64,530 overseas buyers attended on-site, marking an 8.9 percent increase compared to the previous year and setting a new record in attendance on April 15, the first day of the 137th Canton Fair, according to the official statistics from the fair.

Dubbed a barometer and indicator of China's foreign trade, the total exhibition area of this year's event reached 1.55 million square meters, with about 31,000 participating companies.

The Canton Fair has always been a significant driving force for global trade, said Andre Rocha, president of the Federation of Industries of the State of Goias, Brazil.

People can understand and engage with global development trends, cutting-edge technologies, and practical solutions that can drive industrial development by attending the fair, Rocha said.

Chinese foreign trade has demonstrated strong resilience and vitality, adapting to external uncertainties and actively expanding into diversified markets, against the backdrop of new challenges facing the global trade order, the report said.

China's advantages in product quality, cost-effectiveness, and production capacity are difficult for other countries to replace in the short term, said Liao Shixing, general manager of Chigo Group's overseas marketing company for air conditioners.

The company has a strong presence in markets such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Europe, and the Middle East, with further potential to explore these markets, Liao said.

Given the current global economic and trade situation, the role of the Canton Fair may be further highlighted, said Peng Peng, executive president of the Guangdong Society of Economic Reform.

The fair could focus more on export trade with ASEAN and EU members, and actively expand into markets of BRICS members and Belt and Road Initiative partners. In addition, various activities could be organized to attract more potential customers, Peng said.

In the first quarter of this year, China's foreign trade in goods reached 10.3 trillion yuan, marking a 1.3 percent year-on-year growth and a stable start.

In the first quarter of this year, China's trade volume with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative reached 5.26 trillion yuan, up 2.2 percent year-on-year, accounting for 51.1 percent of the total trade volume, the report said citing data from the General Administration of Customs.

Among them, trade with ASEAN countries reached 1.71 trillion yuan, up 7.1 percent year-on-year, according to the report.

The Canton Fair serves as a bridge for companies from around the world to share China's development opportunities and achieve mutual benefits.

In this year's Canton Fair, there are about 1,600 import exhibition booths, with 736 participating companies from 50 countries and regions to further expand into the Chinese market.

As the world's largest manufacturing country and the second-largest economy, China's production capacity and market potential are enormous, presenting opportunities that no economy can ignore, Peng said.