Economic Watch: Canton Fair embraces more opportunities from BRI cooperation

This photo taken on Oct. 15, 2023 shows the booth of enterprise from Türkiye at the 134th session of the China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province. (Xinhua/Deng Hua)

GUANGZHOU, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- The 134th session of the China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, is providing more exhibition areas for Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partner countries, appealing to surging overseas buyers.

Guangdong Xinbao Electrical Appliances Holdings Co., Ltd. is targeting more opportunities from international BRI cooperation this year than it has in previous sessions, for which it has added a specific exhibition area.

"Overseas buyers from BRI partner countries have significantly increased," said Zhang Yifei, overseas project director of the company. Zhang expects that over 500 overseas buyers will come to negotiate, with approximately half coming from BRI partner countries.

Xinbao is displaying nearly 600 new products, including robotic vacuum cleaners and intelligent trash bins, making its exhibit this year the largest in the company's more than 30 years of participating in the fair, according to Zhang.

The latest session of the Canton Fair, which opened on Oct. 15 and will run until Nov. 4, has also set a new scale record. The total exhibition area has expanded to 1.55 million square meters, an increase of 50,000 square meters compared to the session prior. There is a total of 74,000 booths, with 28,533 exhibiting companies.

The data shows that buyers from BRI partner countries have actively participated in the fair, with the proportion of relevant attendees increasing from 50.4 percent to 58.1 percent over the past decade. As of Wednesday afternoon, a total of 98,000 overseas buyers have joined the event, with significant growth from BRI partner countries.

In addition to reaching deals with many companies from BRI partner countries at the fair, Xinbao is also actively expanding its overseas production bases. The company's factory in Indonesia has already started production, and it is expected to achieve sales in excess of 1 billion yuan (about 136.8 million U.S. dollars) by the end of the year.

The Canton Fair has become an important platform for companies to explore the Belt and Road markets.

As one of the first Chinese manufacturers to "go global," Chinese home appliances manufacturer Galanz Group has supplied products and services to nearly 200 countries and regions, with about a third of export sales coming from BRI partner countries.

Russia is one of the most populous markets for Galanz, and was among its earliest. By leveraging a full industrial chain and local-team operations, Galanz has increased its microwave oven, dishwasher, refrigerator and other home appliance market shares in the Russian market.

As early as 2004, Orbus & Teksan, a company specializing in portable energy storage systems in Türkiye, began participating in the Canton Fair and has now grown to become the largest of its kind in Türkiye.

"Through the Canton Fair, we have found many long-term cooperative suppliers. A significant part of the company's achievements today should be attributed to the Canton Fair," said Sukru Ozdamar, the company's CEO.

With the platforms brought by the Canton Fair, many BRI partner countries have purchased high-quality and cost-effective products from China and opened sales channels for their own specialty products in the country, achieving win-win results.

Of this year's exhibitors, 650 are from 43 countries and regions other than China, with BRI partner countries accounting for 60 percent. Türkiye has organized 125 companies to participate, covering industries such as consumer electronics, hardware tools, building materials, furniture, household items and food.

Altinboga Gas Equipments, a valve manufacturing company from Türkiye, is a frequent exhibitor at the fair. This year, it has brought more than 85 categories of products to exhibit.

"The Canton Fair is the largest exhibition event for us, where we can negotiate with buyers from all over the world," said Hakan Yaylali, foreign trade manager, noting that 10 years ago, the company met a buyer from Chile at the fair and signed its largest order of the year.

For Solex International (Thailand) Co., Ltd., its small booth of less than 10 square meters does not detract from its attractiveness at the Canton Fair.

The client contact book of Thanyaluk Pitisettakarn, manager of the company's foreign trade department, was filled with business cards from nearly 200 overseas buyers in just three days, many of whom expressed their willingness to cooperate further.

The Canton Fair provides a platform to showcase foreign companies and products to global buyers, and China makes great contributions by sharing this important market opportunity with the world, she said.