What’s new: The volume of overseas buyers at the Canton Fair returned almost to pre-pandemic levels as the giant trade expo opened Sunday, several Chinese merchants at the event told Caixin.
As of 5 p.m. Sunday, the first day of the fair, more than 50,000 foreign businesspeople from more than 200 countries and regions visited the event, surpassing the number at the spring session, according to the organizer, which didn’t report detailed figures.
More than 100,000 buyers registered for the event as of Oct. 12, said Xu Bing, spokesman of the Canton Fair, at an Oct. 13 press briefing. Registrations from Europe and North America increased 8.6% from the spring session in April, while registrations from countries from the Belt and Road region rose 11.2%, according to Xu.
Why it matters: Established in 1957, the China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, is held every spring and fall in the southern city of Guangzhou, which was once known in English as Canton. It is widely seen as a barometer of China’s foreign trade. The fair serves as a venue for domestic companies to showcase their products to foreign buyers.
Before the pandemic, the fair usually attracted more than 200,000 buyers from all over the world. The spring expo, resuming in-person this year after three years of virtual activities, attracted 129,000 buyers. They placed $21.7 billion of orders, compared with $29.3 billion at the 2019 fall fair.
China’s foreign trade has shown signs of rebounding after continued declines this year. Exports in September dropped 6.2% year-on-year, but that was 2.6 percentage points narrower than the August drop, official data showed. Analysts projected strengthening exports for the fourth quarter.
Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bob.simison@caixin.com)
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