CCTV.com News: The 139th China Export Commodities Fair (Canton Fair) opened on April 15. This year's Canton Fair will be held in three phases. The first phase, themed 'Advanced Manufacturing,' will closely follow the development trends of 'newness, intelligence, and green.
Broadly integrating advanced productive forces, adding 4 new characteristic zones
The first session of this year's Canton Fair, building on common manufacturing categories, has added four new specialized zones: consumer drones, smart wearables, display technologies, and agricultural drones.
In the consumer drone zone, products such as lighting drones for emergency rescue and wind-resistant autonomous cleaning drones made their debut, becoming the focus of attention for buyers and media. The smart wearable zone featured emerging trend products ranging from compact AI rings to powerful AI glasses; the display technology zone brought together many leading companies in the industry; and the agricultural drone zone showcased how multiple crop protection equipment models are aiding the development of smart agriculture.
Service Robot Exhibition Area: Intelligent Evolution and Accelerated Global Expansion
In addition, this year's Canton Fair continues to set up a service robot exhibition area, bringing together 46 service robot companies from across the country. More than half of the companies in the entire exhibition area showcased embodied intelligent robots with human-like or quadrupedal forms. Some of them were busy exercising to do housework and clean, while others performed formation shows and engaging interactive activities, striving for more agile and human-like postures. From being able to walk and run initially to now deeply exploring application scenarios in various industries, this demonstrates the rapid pace of robot development.
Two new drone special zones have been set up to showcase innovative achievements
In addition to the continuously developed exhibition areas, this year's Canton Fair has newly set up 9 special zones. Among them are the consumer drone zone and the agricultural drone zone. For the first time, multiple live drone flight demonstrations will be held in the exhibition hall airspace, and a series of intelligent low-altitude new products and technologies will be unveiled successively.
Full of new ideas: The 139th Canton Fair opens on April 15
The 139th China Export Commodities Fair opened on April 15. As China's 'barometer' and 'weather vane' for foreign trade, what are the new highlights of this session of the fair? What new signals were conveyed on the first day of the exhibition?
A prominent feeling in the exhibition hall is 'newness'-new zones, new faces, and new experiences. From humanoid robots to smart wearables, from intangible cultural heritage performances to AI services, the Canton Fair is embracing the world with a younger and more open attitude. Over nearly 70 years, it has witnessed the evolution of China's foreign trade. Today, new quality productive forces are moving from the exhibition stands to the market, injecting new momentum into global trade.
Exhibitors stated that it is professional, practical, and reliable. Colorful, friendly, and innovative.
The Pakistani buyer said everything is going very well.
The Indian buyer said he was deeply impressed by the robots here, as he had just received this cup of coffee from one of them, which was very interesting.
This year's Canton Fair closely follows the development trends of 'newness, greenness, and intelligence'. The total exhibition area is 1.55 million square meters, with a total of 75,700 booths and over 32,000 participating enterprises, all exceeding previous sessions. Among them, approximately 3,900 enterprises made their debut. Over 4.65 million products were displayed on site, with new products, green products, and independently developed intellectual property products accounting for 23%, 22%, and 25% respectively. Emerging categories such as service robots and commercial drones have become highlights.
Exhibitor Chi Hai Dong stated that it was their first time participating in the Canton Fair. The number of visitors they received exceeded their expectations. In just four hours in the morning, they take over 120 groups of customers, and approximately 30 groups of customers were already negotiating specific business agreements.
The overall trend of buyers at the Canton Fair shows stable quantity and improved quality. 290 leading purchasing enterprises have confirmed their participation, a 30% increase year-on-year.
New and old procurement merchants are flocking in. Newly added clients mainly come from countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, as well as regions such as Latin America and Africa.
A buyer from Uzbekistan stated that this was his first time attending the Canton Fair, and his purpose was to see what developed products China currently has that they could bring back to their own country. They are interested in air conditioners and electronic products because the equipment they use is relatively old, but there are now many modern devices available in China.
Brazilian buyers say this is the best place to learn about the latest global products, and we should all come to China's Canton Fair, which is the world's most important exhibition.
Middle Eastern Business Clients at the Canton Fair: Fewer Attendees, More Clear Purchase Needs
At present, the situation in the Middle East remains tense. For Middle Eastern businesspeople, the Canton Fair has always been a very important exchange platform. How many Middle Eastern businesspeople attended this session of the Canton Fair, and what changes have occurred in their purchasing intentions?
Jordanian buyer Mudha stated that the reduction in Middle Eastern business visitors has exceeded 30%, with the main impact being on aviation, flights, and logistics.
However, Muda believes that a decrease in traffic does not equate to a reduction in purchasing. In the past, high traffic was due to many people wanting to come to China to see and experience it firsthand, and to learn more about its situation. Now, limited by the situation, Middle Eastern businesspeople who can attend the Canton Fair are coming with clear purchase lists.
Muda stated that currently, the businesspeople who come are primarily driven by strong purchasing intentions; China is a safe haven for trade.
In terms of purchasing categories, Muda divides Middle Eastern customer needs into two major types: consumer goods and project-based. Project-based involves bulk trade, building materials, steel, and other infrastructure. The fastest-growing area is high-tech products.
Muda noted that parts of the entire Middle East are currently undergoing reconstruction with a lot of infrastructure projects. Additionally, there are many businesspeople who are now starting to come to China to purchase high-tech products, such as smart city products, solutions, advanced materials, and AI-related products.
During the interview, several Middle Eastern business clients also stated that what really puts pressure on them and their customers is the logistics. Rising freight costs and extended delivery times-this uncertainty is the most pressing concern for Middle Eastern purchasers at the moment.
Yemeni buyers stated that customers are currently most concerned about transportation, as they are all afraid that transportation costs will rise day by day to very high levels.
In response to fluctuations in the attendance of Middle Eastern business clients, this session of the Canton Fair has also introduced dedicated service packages. It
Iraqi buyers stated that they mainly engage in the procurement of electronic appliances, with their primary procurement channels and suppliers concentrated at the Canton Fair. As a result, they have earned high trust from suppliers at the exhibition, especially large suppliers, who have provided them with more potential opportunities.
