The largest-ever Canton Fair opens in Guangzhou

The largest-ever China Import and Export Fair, the 133rd, was opened offline in Guangzhou on April 15, with the exhibition area and the number of exhibitors hitting a record high, National Business Daily reported on Sunday.

The event, also known as the Canton Fair, welcomed 370,000 visitors on its opening day alone, according to the organizers.

As the largest fair in its history, this year's fair has expanded its exhibition area from 1.18 million square meters to 1.5 million square meters, with nearly 70,000 booths available for exhibitors, said the report.

The number of offline exhibitors has also grown significantly, from 25,000 to 34,933, including more than 9,000 new participants, while the number of online exhibitors reached 39,281.

The Canton Fair serves as an important window for China's opening to the world and a vital platform for the country's foreign trade.

This year's fair is being held in three phases from April 15 to May 5 with both online and offline exhibitions.

Almost 35,000 exhibitors from more than 200 countries and regions showcase their products and services in the newly constructed 100,000-square-meter venue.

It features several new sections and zones, including Industrial Automation and Intelligent Manufacturing, New Energy and Intelligent Connected Vehicles, Smart Life, and Silver Economy.

Over 300 new product debuts will be held during the event, displaying the latest achievements in technological innovation and advanced manufacturing development.

The fair has included an international pavilion in all three phases of the event for the first time, with a total exhibition area of 30,000 square meters, an increase of 50 percent from its pre-pandemic level, according to news portal people.cn.

508 companies from 40 countries and regions exhibited in 12 specialized sections, with 73 percent of the exhibitors from countries and regions participating in the Belt and Road Initiative. Six national and regional pavilions were also set up.

Production-oriented and private enterprises are the largest exhibitors in this year's Canton Fair, accounting for 50.57 percent and 90.1 percent respectively.

The number of quality enterprises is at a record high, with a total of 5,700 enterprises, including industry-leading companies, "little giant" companies with cutting-edge technologies and single-product champion enterprises.

The quality of exhibits has further improved. Over 3 million products were uploaded online by exhibitors, including nearly 800,000 new products and 500,000 environmentally friendly products.