China Import and Export Fair, also known as the “Canton Fair”, is an important channel for China’s foreign trade and a window of China’s opening up policy. It plays a key role in advancing the development of China’s foreign trade and the economic and trade exchanges between China and the rest of the world. And it is renowned as “China’s No. 1 Fair”.
The Canton Fair is co-hosted by the Ministry of Commerce of PRC and the People’s Government of Guangdong Province and organized by China Foreign Trade Centre. It is held every spring and autumn in Guangzhou, China. Since its establishment in 1957, the Canton Fair has enjoyed the longest history, the largest scale, the biggest buyer attendance, the most diverse buyer source country, the most complete product variety, and the best business turnover in China for 132 sessions. The 132nd Canton Fair attracted 510,000 buyers online from 229 countries and regions, reflecting the huge commercial value of the Canton Fair and its importance of contributing to global trade.
The 133rd Canton Fair is scheduled to be held on April 15th, which will be full of highlights. The first is to expand the scale and consolidate the position of “China’s No. 1 Fair”. The physical Canton Fair will be fully resumed and held in 3 phases. As the 133rd Canton Fair will include its venue expansion for the first time, the total exhibition area will increase from 1.18 million to 1.5 million square meters. The second is to optimize the exhibition structure and display the latest development of various sectors. The exhibition section layout will be improved and new categories added, to demonstrate the achievements of trade upgrading, industrial progress, and scientific and technological innovation. The third is to hold the Fair online and offline and accelerate digital transformation. Integration of virtual and physical Fair and digitalization will be accelerated. Exhibitors can complete the whole process digitally, including application for participation, booth arrangement, product display and onsite preparation. The fourth is to enhance targeted marketing and expand global buyer market. The Canton Fair will open wide to invite buyers from home and abroad. The fifth is to increase forum activities to further promote investment. In 2023, the second Pearl River Forum modeled as one plus N will be held to build a stage for international trade opinions, spread the Canton Fair voice and contribute the Canton Fair wisdom.
With elaborate preparation, the Fair will provide comprehensive one-stop services for global buyers this session, including trade matchmaking, onsite courtesies, awards for attendance, etc. New and regular buyers can enjoy online or onsite services before, during and after the exhibition, i.e. latest highlights and core values for global fans through 9 social media platforms, including Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc;“Trade Bridge”activities targeting multinational enterprises, specific regions and industries, as well as different provinces or municipalities, to help buyers follow the industry trends timely, connect with high-quality suppliers, and find satisfying products quickly; “Discover Canton Fair with Bee & Honey” activities of different themes, featuring on-site factory visit and booth display, to help buyers achieve “zero distance” attendance; “Advertisement Reward for New Buyers” activity to benefit new buyers; onsite services such as VIP Lounge, offline salon and “Online Participation, Offline Reward” activity, to create a value-added experience; optimized Canton Fair’s online platform, including pre-registration, pre-posting sourcing requests, pre-matching, etc. to offer buyers premium services and convenience to attend the Fair online or offline.
The International Pavilion was inaugurated in the 101st session to promote balanced growth of import and export. Over the past 16 years, with the steady improvement of its specialization and internationalization, the International Pavilion has provided great convenience for overseas enterprises to explore the Chinese and global consumer market. In the 133rd session, national and regional delegations from Turkey, South Korea, Japan, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, etc, will participate in the International Pavilion, demonstrating the images and features of different regions intensively and displaying the influence of China’s industrial clusters. Meanwhile, outstanding international enterprises from Germany, Spain and Egypt have shown active participation. The International Pavilion of the 133rd Canton Fair will further facilitate international exhibitors to participate. The threshold qualification will be optimized to include more high-quality multinational enterprises, international brands, branches of overseas enterprise, overseas brand agents, and import platforms. Moreover, international exhibitors can now participate in all the 16 categories of 3 phases.
Canton Fair Product Design and Trade Promotion Center (PDC), since its establishment in the 109th session, has served as a design service platform to bridge “Made in China” and “Designed by World” and to facilitate mutually beneficial cooperation between excellent designers from all over the world and quality Chinese companies. For many years, PDC closely follows the market demand and has developed business such as design show, design matchmaking and thematic forum, design service promotion, design gallery, design incubator, Canton Fair fashion week, design store by PDC and PDC online, which have been universally recognized by the market.
The Canton Fair witnesses the development of China’s foreign trade and IPR protection, especially the progress of IPR protection in the exhibition industry. Since 1992, it has been working hard to protect intellectual property for 30 years. By building an IPR dispute settlement mechanism with Complaints about and Settlement Provisions for Suspected Intellectual Property Infringement in the Canton Fair as the cornerstone, which is relatively complete and suits the Fair’s practical situation and the needs of online offline integration, the Canton Fair has raised the exhibitors’ awareness on IPR protection and demonstrated the Chinese government’s determination of respecting and protecting IPR. IPR protection at the Canton Fair has sets the pattern Chinese exhibitions; the just, professional and efficient dispute settlement has won the trust and recognition of Dyson, Nike, Travel Sentry Inc and etc.
The initial schedule of the physical Fair for the 133rd session:
Phase 1: April 15-19, 2023;
Phase 2: April 23-27, 2023;
Phase 3: May 1-5, 2023;
The intervals: April 20-22 and April 28-30, 2023.
The physical exhibition duration will be notified further if there is any adjustment.
The online platform is open for half a year (From March 16 to September 15, 2023).
To register for onsite attendance, please visit: https://www.cantonfair.org.cn