Guangzhou Customs introduces measures to streamline clearance for upcoming Canton Fair

The 140th China Import and Export Fair, known as the Canton Fair, will open in Guangzhou on Thursday and run until Nov 5, with Guangzhou Customs introducing 12 facilitation measures to streamline clearance of personnel, exhibits, and related materials entering and exiting the event.

The fall session covers approximately 1.55 million square meters across 75,000 booths, attracting over 32,000 domestic and international enterprises. This year marks the fair's 70th anniversary.

Yu Lixin, deputy director of Guangzhou Customs, outlined the new measures at a news conference in Guangzhou on Friday. Key changes include embedding customs inspection into the arrival and installation process at exhibition venues, allowing clearance and booth setup to proceed simultaneously. Agricultural exporters with prior certification from agricultural and rural affairs departments will be exempt from on-site inspection when filing overseas recommendation applications.

Yu noted that China's total foreign trade volume reached 45.47 trillion yuan ($6.7 trillion) last year, a record high, reflecting the fair's role in building buyer relationships and generating orders over its seven decades.

Zeng Qi, deputy director of Guangzhou Customs' port supervision division, said expedited clearance lanes for imported exhibits had been launched at Baiyun International Airport and Nansha Port, enabling on-the-spot inspection and release. Ten batches of exhibits had already been imported through these ports ahead of the opening, with more shipments expected in the coming days.