In April, on the bank of the Pearl River, the Pazhou Pavilion is like a docked modern giant ship. Merchants and goods from all over the world come here for a grand event, the 135th China Import and Export Fair (hereinafter referred to as the "Canton Fair").
The water of the Pearl River flows southeast from Pazhou through Dongguan. In Qingxi Town, Dongguan, the Canton Fair exhibitor Puseda Company welcomed global merchants with the latest products, and Nigerian buyer Christian Donadio came to visit the company to negotiate.
According to the latest report from the World Trade Organization, global trade, which fell by 1.2% last year, is expected to "reverse" this year – global trade is expected to grow by 2.6% in 2024. In the first quarter of this year, the total value of China's import and export of goods increased by 5% year-on-year, and the "good start" of foreign trade injected confidence into the global market.
"Despite the difficulties facing the global economy, China has shown unshakable superiority and firm determination. My experience in China has taught me that if China is good, the world will be better. Christophe Bernal, General Manager of Schneider Consumer Asia Ltd., looks forward to discovering more opportunities at the Canton Fair.
Under the great changes in the world unseen in a century, the world focuses on this grand event, observes the development trend of China's new quality productive forces, and looks for new opportunities for world trade and the course through the wind and waves.
Consolidate the fundamentals of foreign trade
In the first quarter, the mainland's foreign trade welcomed a "good start"
Guangdong, on the coast of the South China Sea, has a history of more than 2,000 years since the Han Dynasty opened up overseas trade, and has continued to develop and endure. Guangzhou is the largest and oldest foreign trade port in southern China, and Pazhou Island, where the Canton Fair is located, is the former Huangpu ancient port and one of the main starting points of the ancient maritime Silk Road.
Since the first China Export Commodities Fair in 1957, the Canton Fair has condensed a "history of China's foreign trade development": from the initial low value-added agricultural products and primary products, to 1999, mechanical and electrical products became the first major category of export commodities, from the beginning of industrialization to China's manufacturing swept the world.
In 2001, China officially joined the World Trade Organization, and the following year, the Canton Fair was held in professional phases. Since the 101st session in 2007, the Canton Fair has been officially renamed as "China Import and Export Fair", which shows China's determination to open up for mutual benefit and win-win results. In 2009, China became the world's largest exporter of goods, and in 2013, it became the world's largest country in goods trade.
Over the past 68 years, the Canton Fair has continued to grow and grow, witnessed the opening up and take-off of China's economy, and has become a comprehensive international trade event with the longest history, the largest scale, the most complete range of commodities, the largest number of buyers and the widest sources, the best transaction effect and the best reputation in China, and is known as "the barometer and weather vane of China's foreign trade".
At present, the international foreign trade situation is sluggish, the "Global Trade Update Report" shows that global trade will shrink by 1 trillion US dollars in 2023, trade protectionism and unilateralism are on the rise, and the International Monetary Fund report shows that about 3,000 trade restrictions will be implemented globally in 2023, much higher than the 1,100 in 2019. The World Trade Organization (WTO) warns of downside risks to the global trade outlook from regional conflicts, geopolitical tensions and economic policy uncertainty.
The stronger the wind, the more determined the line. China continues to expand high-level opening-up and shares development opportunities with other countries.
In the face of the still grim external situation, the mainland's foreign trade has made a strong start and has made a good start. According to the data released by the General Administration of Customs on the 12th, in the first quarter of this year, the total import and export value of mainland trade in goods was 10.17 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5%. Among them, exports were 5.74 trillion yuan, up by 4.9 percent, and imports were 4.43 trillion yuan, up by 5 percent.
"The scale of import and export exceeded 10 trillion yuan for the first time in the same period in history, and the growth rate of import and export hit a new high in six quarters. Wang Lingjun, deputy director of the General Administration of Customs, said that in the first quarter, the "qualitative" characteristics of the mainland's foreign trade development continued to appear, effectively consolidating the momentum of "quantity stability".
At present, the 135th Canton Fair has a heavy responsibility on its shoulders: to help enterprises seize orders to expand the market, consolidate the basic market of foreign trade and foreign investment, promote the stable quality and quantity of foreign trade and the high-quality development of commerce, and provide strong support for the mainland's economic recovery.
The wind knows the grass. With the theme of "Serving High-quality Development and Promoting High-level Opening-up", this year's Canton Fair will hold offline exhibitions in three phases from April 15 to May 5, and normalize the operation of online platforms. The exhibition covers an area of 1.55 million square meters, with 55 exhibition areas, a total of about 74,000 booths, and 29,000 exhibitors, including 28,600 export exhibitions and 680 import exhibitions.
This year's Canton Fair will also hold more than 600 trade promotion activities, and more than 300 new product debut and debut activities will be unveiled. As of April 13, 144,000 overseas buyers from 215 countries and regions have pre-registered.
2,606 brand enterprises were unveiled
The exhibits reflect the leap in productivity
In the low-carbon headquarters park of Zengcheng District, Guangzhou, the foreign trade team of Belle Intelligent was busy before the Canton Fair - selecting products for the exhibition, updating product introductions and catalogs, training salesmen, and welcoming merchants from all over the world.
"We expect the 135th Canton Fair to be an important inflection point. Zeng Zhitao, chairman of Belle (Guangzhou) Intelligent Information Technology Co., Ltd., said that the company is full of energy, and the exhibits are further improved in hardware, function and design than last year, so as to better meet the needs of overseas merchants, and expect to win orders for 5 containers during the Canton Fair.
Brave and ready to go. At the 135th Canton Fair, there will be 2,606 brand enterprises unveiled, and more than 5,500 high-quality characteristic enterprises with the titles of national high-tech, manufacturing individual champions, specialized, special and new little giants, an increase of 20% over the previous session, and the proportion of private enterprises will increase to 91%, and will also strengthen the cultivation of new energy vehicles and smart travel, industrial automation and intelligent manufacturing, new energy and other new themes, "new three" related exhibition areas. It is expected that more than 1 million new products, more than 450,000 green and low-carbon products, and more than 250,000 products with independent intellectual property rights will be exhibited on site.
"The Canton Fair is an important platform to showcase China's brand image and expand its influence. In recent years, the number of exhibitors of high-tech enterprises has been increasing, reflecting the high-quality leap of China's advanced productivity and the improvement of China's manufacturing technology. These new trends will be the key to improving the competitiveness of China's foreign trade. Bai Ming, a member of the Academic Degrees Committee of the Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce and a researcher, said.
The upgrading of productivity promotes the transformation and upgrading of China's foreign trade, and the more difficult the external environment, the more high-tech products can grasp the initiative of foreign trade. Vigorously developing new quality productive forces is the direction of breaking the current global foreign trade downturn.
According to Luo Qiuju, a professor at the School of Tourism of Sun Yat-sen University, the Canton Fair is not only an important representative of the high-quality leap in the mainland's productivity, but also a demonstration scene for the innovative allocation of production factors.
The "old friends" of buyers witnessed the upgrading of China's productivity through the Canton Fair.
"Over the past ten years, the exhibitors, products, technologies and services have undergone tremendous changes, so every time I come to the Canton Fair, I can see the new trends and technologies of industry development, and I want to continue to look for new business opportunities at the fair. Beka Mecabeliz, chairman of the Guangdong Provincial Office of the Georgian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and founder of the Georgian "Belt and Road" Business Pavilion, who has participated in the Canton Fair for more than ten consecutive years, said.
Murat Kolbasi, Chairman of Turkey's Alzum Company, said: "The Canton Fair started as a place to source finished products and key components, and now it has become a dynamic platform for product development and innovation. The rapid development of various industries in China has not only improved our product offerings, but also completely changed the way we think about product applications. Nowadays, most of our company's most innovative products and best-selling goods start from the Canton Fair. ”
Inheriting friendship and connecting China and the rest of the world
Demonstrate the vitality of the Greater Bay Area's opening-up to the world
"I take the high-speed train from Hong Kong to Guangzhou, it only takes one hour, it's so convenient!" On the eve of the Canton Fair, Steve Neumeyer, a businessman who came from the United States to participate in the exhibition, stepped out of Guangzhou South Railway Station and lamented the rapid changes in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
Since its birth, the Canton Fair has been a big stage and an important window to showcase China's achievements in opening up and social and economic construction. Guangzhou Railway Station, Baiyun Airport, Guangzhou South Railway Station and other landmarks have built the "first impression" of many foreign merchants on Guangzhou.
Today, the Greater Bay Area's "one-hour living circle" not only brings cities closer together, but also allows foreign businessmen like Neumeyer to travel around the Greater Bay Area in addition to attending exhibitions. Drink morning tea in Guangzhou, experience lion dance at the ancestral temple in Foshan, visit factories in Dongguan, and negotiate business and look for investment opportunities in Shenzhen...... Guangdong is the preferred place for foreign-funded enterprises to invest, and the Canton Fair, as a link between China and foreign countries and a bridge of friendship, has made the vitality of business opportunities and cultural heritage here stunning the world.
From the Sino-Soviet Friendship Building to the No. 1 Exhibition Hall on Qiyi Road, and then to the Liuhua Lake and Pazhou International Convention and Exhibition Center, Chinese and foreign businessmen witnessed the changes of the city through the Canton Fair and built a bridge to inherit friendship.
German buyer Andreas Dohr is very much looking forward to meeting his old friend of more than 20 years, Zhu Aibin of Huizhou Taimei Paper.
In 2000, at the age of 16, he followed his father to Guangzhou for the first time, and met Zhu Aibin, who also participated in the exhibition with his father, at the Canton Fair Complex on Liuhua Road, and the two young people formed a friendship. Over the years, Doll has seen the rapid development of China's economy, and the business with China has become bigger and bigger, and the friendship with Zhu Aibin, a supplier friend, has become deeper and deeper.
"From my grandfather's participation in the Canton Fair to my taking over the family business, there are three generations of 'Canton Friends' in our family. The Canton Fair not only provides more opportunities for foreign trade, but also allows us to meet friends from all over the world, strengthen cooperation and establish deep friendship. Andreas said.
According to statistics, since the establishment of the Canton Fair, more than 9.3 million overseas merchants have participated in the Canton Fair, and the number of global partners has reached 195, which has effectively promoted trade exchanges and friendly exchanges between China and other countries and regions in the world.
24-hour visa application, self-service foreign currency exchange, and 144-hour transit visa-free policy...... This year's Canton Fair has provided more nuanced services, so that overseas merchants can come and return with a full load.
During the Canton Fair, Guangzhou will hold nearly 100 performances of fine arts, known as the "Chinese War Dance", Chaoshan Ying song and dance, etc., to present an audio-visual feast; in addition, 40 one-day special tourist routes, scenic buses, etc., to provide a rich and diverse cultural and tourism experience for the majority of merchants.
At present, the thousand-year-old business capital is like a cloud of customers, and goods are like a rotation. The door of the mainland is opening wider and wider, and the wind of "anti-globalization" will not dissipate the friendship between China and foreign countries that has been strong for a long time. After 68 years of Canton Fair, it has embraced the world with enthusiasm.