Tide turns against businesses

Guo Zhuliang took a deep breath and shook his head as he talked about his company.

"We have 33 injection molding machines. But less than half of them are operating due to reduced orders. I am really worried about the future," said Guo, a production manager at Huijun Plastic in Foshan, a manufacturing city on the Pearl River Delta. [Full story]

Made for China ...

While Europe struggles with its sovereign debt crisis and recovery falters in the United States, China is becoming the focus of attention for global manufacturers hoping to increase sales in the world's second-largest economy.  [Full story]

China Import and Export Fair, or the Canton Fair, is held biannually in Guangzhou every spring and autumn, with a history of 55 years since 1957.

The Fair is the largest trade fair with the longest history in China.

Establishment: April, 1957

Interval: 2 sessions a year

Current Session: The 110th

Date:
Phase I  Oct 15-19
Phase II Oct 23-27
Phase II Oct 31- Nov 4

Venue: China Import and Export Fair Complex, Guangzhou, Guangdong province

Exhibition Space: 1.16m sq m

Booths: 58,699 standard booths

Overseas Buyers: 207,103

Exhibitors: 24,415 exhibitors

(*As in the 109th Session)

Export prospects grim

Export prospects in the next six months are "grim" due to rising uncertainties in the global economy, MOC spokesman Shen Danyang said on Wednesday.  [Full story]

Complementing the Canton Fair

There will be a major exhibition of everything from giftware to jewelry and beyond at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre later this month, following closely on the heels of the Canton Fair, just across the border in Guangzhou, Guangdong province.

Mega Show Part 2, which is now in its ninth year, is an essential sourcing event held every October, just as Phase 2 of the Canton Fair closes. [Full story]

Wen urges openness to combat economic crisis

Premier Wen Jiabao on Friday called for joint international efforts to combat rising trade protectionism, which he said is damaging the world economy amid ongoing global economic turbulence.

"We should embrace opening-up and development, instead of closed doors and stagnation. This is a general trend," said Wen at the opening ceremony of the 110th Canton Fair in Guangzhou. [Full story]

 

Export outlook bleak as 110th Canton Fair prepares to open

The outlook for Chinese exports in the months ahead is not optimistic, despite a strong willingness from global purchasers participating in the Canton Fair, said the Ministry of Commerce on Thursday.  

Liu Jianjun, deputy director-general of the China Foreign Trade Center affiliated to the ministry, told a news briefing at the 110th China Import and Export Fair - also known as the Canton Fair - that factors including currency appreciation, the continuously rising cost of labor and the global debt crisis, will heap pressure on the nation's producers and hurt exports for the rest of the year. [Full story]

Canton Fair goes from strength to strength

       

China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) marked a new stage in the development of the Canton Fair. Since then, the fair, or China Import and Export Fair as it is formally known, has shifted its focus from increasing volumes to elevating the quality of products.

The 2001 entry into the WTO coincided with the 90th session of the fair and was attended by the then Premier Zhu Rongji. He emphasized the need for the fair to adjust to the changed environment by improving the mixture of exports.

Back then, the scope of the fair had been limited by an insufficient supply of booths for 45 years. The WTO entry saw the problem exacerbated because the number of domestic trade companies boomed from 44,000 in 2001 to 370,000 in 2007 because of an easing of controls as part of China's commitment to open up trade flows. [Full story]

   

For a real taste of trade in China, head for Guangzhou

For international businesspeople who want to understand more about China's growth up close against a backdrop of global economic difficulties, one of the best places to do so is the autumn Canton Fair in the southern city of Guangzhou, Guangdong province.

The 110th China Import and Export Fair - China's largest - will open on October 15.

The first Canton Fair - or to be more precise, China Export Commodities Fair - took place in 1957, more than 20 years before the opening up of modern China.

Over the past 55 years, the twice-annual event has developed into the country's top trade show in scale, influence, variety, and number of participants. [Full story]

Canton Fair barometer of exports

If you want to learn how China's export engine works, check out the Canton Fair.

Since 1957, the China Export Commodities Fair, as it was called before 2007, has been the most significant biannual shopping event, held every spring and autumn, for foreign businesses importing from the country, and the barometer of Chinese export performance.

The event, held in the Guangdong provincial capital of Guangzhou (previously known as Canton), has also witnessed how China has grown, especially in the past 30 years, from being simply a provider of primary goods such as tea, minerals, flowers and birds, textiles and handicrafts to becoming the manufacturer for the world and the world's largest exporting country. [Full story]