Construction begins on 32.5 billion yuan Canton Market in Guangzhou

Construction began Thursday on the Canton Market, a 32.5 billion yuan ($4.81 billion) commercial and trade complex in Guangzhou's Huadu district, with the first phase of development scheduled to open in 2028.

The project, located near Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, covers an area of 9.86 square kilometers with a planned construction floor space of more than 14.5 million square meters. The commercial core area currently under construction spans 3.2 million square meters and will feature centralized commodity trading halls, a global digital trading center, an international exhibition complex, and a headquarters cluster.

Bordering Baiyun International Airport to the east, Guangzhou North Railway Station to the west and Guangzhou Port to the south, the site is designed to integrate air, rail, and sea logistics into a single trade hub.

Li Feng, chairman of Guangzhou International Commerce Gateway Group, said the project would allow merchants to easily move from product selection to sample production and mass manufacturing, creating direct links between market demand and manufacturing capacity.

Sun Zhiyang, mayor of Guangzhou, noted the city's 2,240-year history as a trading port. "For millennia, it has connected with the world through its ports and traded across the globe," he said.

Zhang Guozhi, executive vice-governor of Guangdong province, said the Canton Market represents a major initiative to reinforce Guangzhou's standing as a commercial hub, and called for high-standard planning and construction.