Author丨Wu Suwen
Editor丨Yu Changhuan
The 135th Canton Fair is underway. In this Canton Fair, the number of new technology products and technology enterprises has increased significantly, and the "new" wind has stimulated business opportunities.
According to reports, this Canton Fair attracted more than 5,500 national high-tech enterprises, individual champions in the manufacturing industry, and specialized and new "little giant" enterprises to participate in the exhibition, an increase of 20% over the previous session. More than 1 million new products, more than 450,000 green products, and more than 250,000 products with independent intellectual property rights were exhibited on site.
"Many booths are too busy!" "The Southern Finance and Economics all-media reporter observed at the scene that the exhibition areas of electronics and home appliances, new energy, new energy vehicles and smart travel, industrial automation and intelligent manufacturing were crowded, and overseas buyers showed strong interest in new technologies and new products, and actively interacted with exhibitors and exchanged business cards.
The Canton Fair, which is regarded as "China's foreign trade barometer and weather vane", now gathers many new technologies, new technologies and new applications, and has become a big stage to show the latest scientific and technological strength of China's manufacturing industry to the world and reflect industrial trends. The 68-year-old Canton Fair continues to exude new strength with the advancement of domestic industries.
"New technologies, new products, new business opportunities" can be seen everywhere
The first phase of this Canton Fair is themed "Advanced Manufacturing", and the exhibition areas of industrial automation and intelligent manufacturing, new energy and intelligent networked vehicles, and smart life are particularly prominent, showing the development trend of China's foreign trade intensification, intelligence, greening, and digitalization.
"We not only brought the most advanced technology products to the site, but also launched green technology and smart solutions to meet the needs of global users. The latest high-end products are attracting attention, such as washing machines that don't produce a musty smell even if they are not dried in the air, refrigerators that make ice cubes that are 10 times cleaner than ordinary ice cubes without smelling, and air conditioners that can be used for both refrigeration and energy saving. Haier Smart Home booth staff introduced to the Southern Finance and Economics all-media reporter.
This year, Haier Smart Home brought the latest research and development of X11 series washing machines, the first clean ice-making refrigerator with three-system refrigeration, and Expert smart air conditioners to the exhibition. On the third day of the exhibition, Haier Smart Home has gained a lot: customers in the Middle East and Africa, Southeast Asia, Latin America and other regions have expressed their willingness to act as agents of the Haier brand, for example, Nigerian channel merchants are expected to order 33,000 Haier products in 2025;
Photo courtesy of the interviewee
Midea's exhibited products include air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, microwave ovens, dishwashers, various household appliances, etc., integrating advanced technology applications in the industry. For example, the E10s sweeping robot adopts an innovative bagless base station design and multi-cone cyclone technology, which can be cleaned with one click to remove dust and reduce the waste caused by frequent replacement of dust bags;
"The more popular is our green products. Midea's booth related personnel told the Southern Finance and Economics all-media reporter that the current overseas customers' purchase intentions are mainly concentrated in the category of major appliances, air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, etc., and the overall design, appearance, performance and continuous upgrading and iteration of major appliances to maintain product advantages are the main reasons to attract customers to maintain cooperation with enterprises.
Founded in 1998, Ecovacs Robotics Co., Ltd. occupies a leading position in the global market in the categories of sweeping robots, window cleaning robots and floor scrubbers. Ecovacs booth staff told the Southern Finance and Economics all-media reporter, "The most intuitive feeling of this Canton Fair is that there are more European and American customers, and they are more interested in our lawn mower robots and other products." The robot can explore the area of lawn that needs to be cleared on its own, then automatically avoid obstacles, and will also identify the ground with different media. As a "frequent visitor" of the 50th Canton Fair, the company has made great efforts in its global business strategy and cross-border e-commerce, and in 2023, the overseas business revenue of the Ecovacs brand and the Timco brand will both increase by more than 20% year-on-year.
In addition, the bright red and eye-catching domestic electric supercar Haobo SSR attracted many foreign merchants to check in and take pictures, and the booth of VR technology companies came to experience the equipment products of the buyers...... High-tech and high-value-added products representing new quality productivity cover all fields of industrial production and daily life, and are all new driving forces and new business opportunities brought about by industrial upgrading.
The change of exhibits reflects the advancement of the industry
Since its inception in 1957, the Canton Fair is now in its 68th year. The history of the Canton Fair is also the history of the evolution of Made in China.
In the early days of its establishment, the export transactions of the Canton Fair were mainly small and medium-sized commodities and agricultural and sideline native products, accounting for more than 60% of each session on average. After the 90s of the 20th century, mechanical and electrical products, high-tech products, high value-added products and daily consumer goods have gradually become the leading products of the Canton Fair. At the current Canton Fair, high-end, intelligent, branded, and customized products have become the mainstream, and high-tech products such as intelligent robots, photovoltaic solar energy, automatic driving systems, new energy vehicles, and brain-computer interface intelligent bionic hands are dizzying.
Even if it is the same type of exhibited products, they are changing in terms of raw materials, styles, functions, scientific and technological content, environmental protection, etc., and are constantly updated. Taking TVs as an example, the black-and-white tube TVs exhibited in 1983, the large-screen color tube TVs in 2004, the large-screen color LED TVs in 2010, and then the Canton Fair in 2024, such as the TCL LCD color TVs that use quantum dot matrix light control technology, have higher brightness, color gamut and longer life than OLED. Such examples abound in the exhibits.
The Canton Fair has also undergone several adjustments. In the spring of 1999, the 86th Canton Fair focused on expanding the scale of information products, home appliances and other mechanical and electrical products, and mechanical and electrical products surpassed light industrial handicrafts for the first time in terms of turnover. Since the 104th session in 2008, the Canton Fair has been held in three phases, and the number of exhibition areas has been adjusted from 34 to 50 to improve the professional level. In recent years, the Canton Fair has provided more display space for advanced manufacturing products, with the 133rd session adding new exhibition areas such as industrial automation and intelligent manufacturing exhibition area, new energy and intelligent networked vehicle exhibition area, and the 134th session further expanding the scale of the exhibition area for mechanical and electrical products such as home appliances, consumer electronics, machinery and equipment, and new energy, with the scale of the new energy exhibition area increasing by 172%.
Behind a series of changes is the country's strategic deployment of the real economy and manufacturing industry in recent years. From "big economy and trade", "market diversification", "winning by quality" and "rejuvenating trade through science and technology", to the "innovation-driven development strategy" and "Internet +" action plan, to building a new development pattern of domestic and international dual circulation, accelerating the promotion of new industrialization, accelerating the cultivation and formation of new quality productivity, etc., with scientific and technological innovation leading high-quality development as the main theme, China's pace of becoming a manufacturing power and a science and technology power is becoming more and more rapid.
At present, products characterized by high technology, high added value, green and low-carbon have become China's foreign trade. While smart home appliances, new energy vehicles and other products are upgraded and sold overseas, they have also driven the upstream and downstream sectors to continuously improve and break through in technology. With points and surfaces, they are interlocking.
Zhejiang Jinaolan Machine Tool Co., Ltd. brought ALC open double crankshaft mechanical presses, automatic stamping systems and other products to the exhibition this year.
"Our presses have the advantages of high precision, low noise, software system control and other domestic technologies, and can be built in combination with feeders, stamping dies, manipulators, etc. according to customer product requirements to achieve automatic unmanned production. Huang Chunlian, a booth staff member of Jinaolan, told the Southern Finance and Economics all-media reporter that most of the customers who cooperate with the company are BYD, Gree, Midea and other head enterprises, and their requirements for products and technologies are relatively high.
Huang Chunlian introduced that the company's customers are mainly concentrated in North America, Russia, Southeast Asia, this time there are many emerging market countries and regions customers to consult, such as Turkey, India, South America, etc. Clients are also becoming more and more professional and come to see specific projects. In the on-site workshop, more and more customer vehicles are facing upgrading, and they hope to come to the Canton Fair to find fully automatic solutions.
Jiangmen Niuli Machinery Manufacturing Co., Ltd. has participated in the exhibition for more than 30 consecutive sessions, and its products cover trucks, lift trucks, forklifts, storage shelves, lifts, automobile tail plates, etc. "With the development of the domestic new energy industry, the cost of raw materials and technology is also slowly decreasing, and we will gradually increase the proportion of electric products, after all, the price of selling an electric forklift is worth a few manuals. This year, we plan to achieve our sales growth target of 20%. Cao Xiaohu, manager of the fifth department of Niuli Machinery Export Company, told the reporter of Southern Finance and Economics.
The acceleration of industrial upgrading, the dynamic changes in international market demand, and the intensification of industry competition are all factors that promote China's domestic and foreign trade enterprises to keep up with the pace and seek new ideas.
SFC
Editor of this issue: Li Yutong and intern Li Jie