Despite the absence of most American buyers, China’s largest trade fair achieved surprise growth in deals signed during its three-week spring edition – driven by a record high in overseas attendance.
Overall transaction volume at the spring edition of the biannual Canton Fair, held between April 15 and Monday, rose by 3 per cent year-on-year to US$25.44 billion, according to data released by the fair’s organiser.
The number of visiting overseas buyers reached a record high of 288,938, up 17.3 per cent year-on-year. Among them, 171,750 buyers attended the Canton Fair for the first time, accounting for over 59 per cent of all overseas buyers. The organiser did not provide a breakdown of overseas buyers by country, but there were few US participants in attendance, according to the Post’s on-site observations.
Over 64.9 per cent of the foreign visitors were from countries that are members of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, involved in deals accounting for more than 60 per cent of the total transaction volume – an important engine of transaction growth – according to the fair’s operator.
The Canton Fair, held every spring and autumn, is seen as a barometer for China’s foreign trade and manufacturing trends over the next six to nine months. But the transaction volume remains below the pre-pandemic level of 2019, when deals reached US$29.3 billion and overseas buyers totalled 186,000.
