Source: People's Daily Overseas Edition
Today, the Pazhou Pavilion, located on the banks of the Pearl River, has become the "home" of the Canton Fair. Courtesy of China Foreign Trade Center
The fourth edition of the People's Daily, published on April 27, 1957.
At the foot of Yuexiu Mountain, between Renmin North Road and Jiefang North Road, there is an old building, the former site of the Sino-Soviet Friendship Building in Guangzhou. It was built in 1955 and the hall is 23 meters high, with 6 pairs of large columns forming a wide gate. Today, the building is still a circular dome, marble steps, and the second floor is a circular exhibition trail, retaining the carpets and decorative lights of that year. Originally designed, it could accommodate 30,000 visitors a day.
On April 27, 1957, the People's Daily published the news that "Export Commodities Fair Held in Guangzhou". This news of only more than 200 words, but the weight is not small, recording the first foreign trade activity held by new China with the strength of the whole country - the Canton Fair. The Sino-Soviet Friendship Building is the venue of the first and second Canton Fairs. Although the building has been turned into a spare multi-purpose venue, when all the lights are turned back on, the reporter seems to feel the warmth of China's open arms to the world 64 years ago.
How did the name "Canton Fair" come about? Chu Shijia, director of the China Foreign Trade Center, said that at that time, some people felt that the "China Export Commodities Fair" was a bit long to read, and foreigners could not remember. Therefore, Premier Zhou Enlai proposed that it should simply be called the "Canton Fair." At this point, it is not only the name that shortens, but also the distance between China and the world.
Li Huan, a 96-year-old Hong Kong trader, has dealt with the Canton Fair for a lifetime. At the first Canton Fair, Li Huan, who was in his early 30s, rushed over on a coal-burning train, "'Poof' crossed the tunnel, and his clothes were blackened!" As soon as he arrived at the Sino-Soviet Friendship Building, he excitedly plunged into the crowd, not even paying attention to the crooked tie.
In the 1950s, there were not many industrial products that New China could get its hands on, and at the Canton Fair, local specialties and textiles from all over the country became the main force of the exhibition, but many good things were still not sold at a price. Li Huan found that there is a domestic liquor of high quality, because the use of black pottery bottle filling with sand holes occasionally leads to leakage, which is prohibitive for foreign buyers. To this end, he rushed to the production area to find a winery idea. In the end, everyone decided to replace the black pottery with a white porcelain wine bottle, which had a good material and beautiful shape, and was welcomed at the Canton Fair. To this day, many brewing companies still like to use "white porcelain bottles" classic packaging.
"If there is no platform like the Canton Fair, many problems similar to uncle Huan will not be discovered and solved, and it will be more difficult to do foreign trade." Liu Bizhen, a 74-year-old "old foreign trade" who served as the head of the exhibition business of the Canton Fair, told reporters, "In 1957, the foreign exchange earned by the Canton Fair in the spring and autumn seasons accounted for 20% of the country; by the early 1970s, the export turnover of the Canton Fair accounted for more than 50% of the country's annual foreign trade exports, which was worthy of the name 'China's first exhibition'. ”
After the reform and opening up, a large number of domestic manufacturing enterprises have risen and begun to set foot in overseas markets, and the Canton Fair has provided them with unique opportunities. For example, Haier's global brand road began at a booth of less than 5 square meters at the Canton Fair in 1988. It was the first time Haier had attended the Canton Fair, and there were only 2 people and 2 refrigerators on the booth.
In addition to paving the way for Chinese and foreign merchants, the Canton Fair has also witnessed great changes in the structure and quality of China's foreign trade: at the 86th Canton Fair in 1999, mechanical and electrical products jumped to the first major category of export products for the first time; after China's accession to the WTO, the Canton Fair was "a difficult to find" and was regarded as a "small and medium-sized enterprise incubator"; since the 101st session, the full name of the Canton Fair has been changed to "China Import and Export Commodity Fair", with an additional "input" word, marking a more balanced development of China's exports and imports.
From 1957 to 2020, China's foreign trade imports and exports increased by more than 3,000 times, ranking first in the world as a major trading country, and the scale of the Canton Fair expanded from more than 2,000 invitations to 26,000 domestic and foreign exhibitors per session, covering more than 200 countries and regions around the world. "For more than 60 years, the Canton Fair has been held in 5 exhibition halls. First in the Sino-Soviet Friendship Building, then in the 2 exhibition halls of Qiao Guang Road and Uprising Road, and later in the Liuhua Road Exhibition Hall, it really has its own 'home field'. After September 2008, the Canton Fair moved to the Pazhou Pavilion on the banks of the Pearl River. Chu Shijia said that the current Canton Fair has realized the combination of comprehensive exhibitions and professional exhibitions, the combination of imports and exports, and the intersection of Chinese enterprises and foreign enterprises Chinese. ”
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Canton Fair has temporarily moved from offline to online. The epidemic has limited the flow of people, but it cannot limit popularity, and the charm of "China's first exhibition" is still undiminished. The reporter witnessed a buyer communication meeting that was originally scheduled for 1 hour and did not end for two and a half hours, "Can the email verification code of online participant registration be simplified?" "Can the canton fair be extended?" "The Canton Fair will resume offline exhibitions in the future, and the online part is best to continue to grow"... Representatives of buyers from Russia, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Japan, Spain and other countries stared at the mobile microphone, looking at their watches from time to time, hoping to speak early. "At the Canton Fair, I can find a lot of goods and supply chains, all grades and prices, which are very helpful for enterprises." Siddique Aliquit, chairman of UAE LuLu Group Yas Export (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd., told reporters.
The Canton Fair has been held for 129 sessions, during which Time Li Huan has become a famous "king of domestic grain and oil canned food" in Hong Kong, and Liu Bizhen's face has a few wrinkles of different shades, but their fate with the Canton Fair is getting deeper and deeper. Li Huan's son took over his father and continued to "squat" the Canton Fair. Every once in a while, Liu Bizhen will take the subway for half an hour to the Pazhou Pavilion to turn around a few times and make some suggestions for the future generations.
"China's foreign trade development is as dynamic as the Canton Fair." Liu Bizhen said.