Xu Bing, spokesperson of the Canton Fair, also deputy director general of China Foreign Trade Centre, briefs a press confeerence on October 13, 2023 in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province. Photo: courtesy of Canton Fair

As of Thursday, more than 100,000 buyers from 215 countries and regions have registered for the 134th Canton Fair, Xu Bing, spokesperson of the Canton Fair, also deputy director general of China Foreign Trade Centre, said on Friday at a press briefing.

The international environment and foreign trade situation are complex and grim. Holding the 134th Canton Fair will help enterprises expand their markets. It is also conducive to strengthening the matching of supply and demand and promoting the stability and smooth flow of industrial and supply chains, said Xu.

"It is expected that the number of participants of the 134th session will increase significantly compared with the 133rd session (in April and May). The number of pre-registered buyers in Europe and the US increased by 8.6 percent over the 133rd session, the buyers from countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) increased by 11.2 percent, and the RCEP countries increased by 13.8 percent," said Xu.

The 134th session of China Import and Export Fair, commonly known as the Canton Fair, will be held from Sunday to November 4 in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province.

Exhibitors are racing against time to set up their stands on Friday, the Global Times has seen at the exhibition halls.

Exhibitors are busy arranging their booths and banners on October 13, 2023 for the 134th edition of China Import and Export Fair, commonly known as the Canton Fair, which will be held from October 15 to November 4 in Guangzhou, South China’s Guangdong Province. Photo: Chi Jingyi/GT

"Of course, we are looking forward to a rise in deals at the Canton Fair," Zhu Qiucheng, a Canton Fair participant and CEO of Ningbo New Oriental Electric Industrial Development, told the Global Times on Friday. The company is an exporter of pet furniture and home furnishing products.

Zhu said that he has a lot of expectations for the autumn Canton Fair.

"There will be a theme pavilion for home design in this session, which is much anticipated. Global buyers can achieve one-stop shopping and Canton Fair's online purchase platform is also optimized to facilitate processes," said Zhu.

Zhu said his company will debut some new products at the session, such as cinerary casket for pets and eco-friendly creative furniture and household items.

Foreign exhibitors are also looking forward to reaching deals during the Canton Fair.

"We have many expectations. Some of our Chinese customers have already decided to come to our booth," Gurjit Singh Bhatia, CEO of R.P.Overseas, an Indian exporter of hand tools, told the Global Times on Friday at its booth at the Canton Fair.

Bhatia has been attending the Canton Fair for 25 years.

Exhibitors from India pose in front their booth at the Canton Fair on October 13, 2023. The 134th session of China Import and Export Fair, commonly known as the Canton Fair, will be held from October 15 to November 4 in Guangzhou, South China’s Guangdong Province. Photo: Chi Jingyi/GT

The scale of the 134th session Canton Fair will reach new highs in terms of exhibition area and number of exhibitors.

"The exhibition area will be expanded to 1.55 million square meters, an increase of 50,000 square meters over the previous session. The number of booths will be 74,000, an increase of nearly 4,600 over the previous session, including 72,000 export exhibitions and 1,550 import exhibitions," Xu said.

There are 28,533 exhibitors, an increase of 3,135 over the previous session, including 27,883 export exhibitors. For import exhibitions, there are 650 exhibitors from 43 countries and regions, of which 60 percent are from countries co-building the BRI, said Xu.

A total of 28,653 enterprises will participate in the 134th session online, an increase of 2,115 over the previous session.

The spokesperson also introduced the 101 optimizations of Canton Fair's online platform. With continuous improvements, Canton Fair's online platform has brought orders for nearly 340 overseas buyers and more than 1,100 domestic enterprises. Since May 5, the closing of the 133rd session, until Thursday, Canton Fair's website has been visited 76.96 million times by 5.93 million visitors, of which 4.74 million were overseas visitors.

A hose valve manufacturer from Thailand told the Global Times on Friday that they have brought their latest products to the Canton Fair. They have already contacted potential buyers online and "some purchase initiatives have been reached."