Looking at China's foreign trade moving towards a "new" direction from the Canton Fair

The 136th China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair) will be held in three phases in Guangzhou from October 15th to November 4th. The Guangzhou Pazhou International Convention and Exhibition Center is bustling with people, with tens of thousands of foreign visitors entering the exhibition hall every day. The densely distributed booths are crowded with people, and buyers and exhibitors build a cooperative trade bridge through pleasant exchanges and negotiations.

The Canton Fair, which has a history of 68 years, is known as the "barometer" and "wind vane" of China's foreign trade. On October 19th, the first phase of the 136th Canton Fair with the theme of "Advanced Manufacturing" came to an end and delivered an impressive report card. The second phase of the 136th Canton Fair with the theme of "Quality Home Furnishings" will be held from October 23rd to 27th.

The Canton Fair is a window for showcasing new products, seeking new business opportunities, and understanding new trends. From the Canton Fair, we can learn about the new trends, development, and driving forces of China's foreign trade.

Canton Fair 'New' Satisfaction

Every time I step into the Canton Fair, I feel like I have opened the door to a new world. There are so many product suppliers here, ranging from electronic products and innovative products to raw materials and machinery, everything is available, "said a purchaser, highlighting the charm of the Canton Fair.

Share the big market with the world and explore new opportunities together. The 136th Canton Fair is indeed a "new" satisfaction.

There are too many new products! At this year's Canton Fair, a large number of new products, technologies, and formats emerged. Exhibitors showcased their latest bestsellers, and a batch of "black technology" products representing new quality productivity dazzled people.

A number of high-tech and high value-added products, such as new energy vehicles, industrial automation equipment, humanoid robots, intelligent bionic hands, hydrogen powered bicycles, and smart home appliances, are highly favored. Chinese manufacturing is accelerating its ascent to the mid to high end of the industrial and value chains, and the independent innovation capabilities of Chinese enterprises and the core competitiveness of Chinese products continue to strengthen.

Saying hello, shaking hands, comparing hearts, even dancing and practicing Tai Chi, humanoid robots attract countless eyes; Cleaning windows, stir frying, screwing screws... The Canton Fair is creating a whirlwind of robots.
Can it make Western cuisine besides Chinese stir fry? "When the latest generation of stir fry robots demonstrated their ability to stir fry a plate of shredded chili in three minutes, on-site buyers praised and eagerly asked if there were any more functions, hoping to include them in the purchase list.

In order to make it smarter, we have increased the code of the machine algorithm from hundreds of thousands of lines to millions of lines. It can not only clean the glass, but also design its own path for cleaning the glass based on its shape and size. The smarter window cleaning machine baby is attracting attention. Exhibitors revealed that a humanoid robot equipped with 41 high-performance servo joints and perception systems such as multi-dimensional force sensing, multi eye stereo vision, omnidirectional hearing, inertia, and distance measurement is also about to enter the mass production stage.

 With a total exhibition area of 1.55 million square meters and a total of 74000 booths, the first phase of the Canton Fair focuses on "advanced manufacturing", attracting new quality productivity, and highlighting high-quality enterprises and digital, intelligent, and green products. The participating companies showcased a large number of new products, technologies, materials, and processes, including 390000 digital products.

There are too many new enterprises! There are nearly 4600 new exhibitors at this year's Canton Fair, including over 4200 high-quality and characteristic exhibitors such as specialized and innovative small giants, manufacturing industry champions, and national high-tech enterprises. There are also about 3600 companies related to "new three types", digital technology, and intelligent manufacturing... covering traditional advantageous categories such as electronics and energy, as well as new formats such as cross-border e-commerce and overseas warehouses. New exhibiting companies showcased 1.15 million new products on site, with a threefold increase in digital intelligent products compared to the previous edition.

 Green technology is one of the important trends in international trade development, including shared hydrogen energy bicycles, micro hydrogen charging and production machines, and low-pressure solid-state hydrogen storage devices. The Canton Fair actively conforms to this trend and enriches the theme of green energy exhibitions. For the first time, a new theme of hydrogen energy has been added to the new energy zone, and a new energy storage product zone has been established. It has attracted more than 110 new energy exhibiting companies, and various hydrogen energy products have been displayed on the booth.

There are so many new faces! New faces from all over the world gather here, as if coming to a 'global village'. In the exhibition area of new energy vehicles and smart travel, foreign companies from all over the world crowded the booths, constantly inquiring about product information; In the Pazhou International Convention and Exhibition Center, older foreign buyers drive their scooters for a leisurely stroll; In the agricultural machinery exhibition area, buyers experience various advanced and applicable products and communicate with sellers.

 Experts point out that with the implementation of a series of policy measures to reduce enterprise costs and improve innovation capabilities, the market size of China's high-end manufacturing industry continues to expand, and its international competitiveness has significantly improved. This trend was fully reflected at the Canton Fair. China's high-end manufacturing industry is entering a rapid development stage led by innovation. Enterprises continue to increase their R&D investment, constantly break through core technologies, and more and more intelligent manufacturing products with intellectual property rights achieve breakthroughs. Through the Canton Fair, they enter the international market and also help optimize China's foreign trade structure.

Accelerate the release of new momentum in foreign trade 

From the Canton Fair, it can be seen that Chinese products and brands have reached a new level of high-quality development. The on-site collection of exquisite products is dazzling, not only of high quality and price, but also fashionable and safe, reflecting China's confidence and ability to provide the world with more and better Made in China and Created in China, "said Chu Shijia, Director of the China Foreign Trade Center of the Ministry of Commerce.

 Among the participating companies in this year's Canton Fair, there are about 3600 companies related to "new three types", digital technology, and intelligent manufacturing, more than 14000 companies with independent brands, and more than 18000 companies that have passed various international certifications. On site, 1.15 million new products, 1.04 million green products, and 1.11 million independent intellectual property products will be exhibited, all of which have significantly increased compared to the previous edition. Organize about 400 new product launch events, an increase of over 30% compared to the previous edition.

The new momentum of China's trade is accelerating, "said Xiao Lu, Deputy Director of the Foreign Trade Department of the Ministry of Commerce." The technological content and brand value of China's export products are constantly improving, and the market for green and low-carbon products is vast. New energy vehicles produced in China have been exported to more than 170 countries and regions. Cross border e-commerce is developing rapidly, with over 120000 operating entities, and the product categories and service functions of cross-border e-commerce platforms are further expanding. 

It is reported that in order to develop new quality productivity around services, fully leverage the role of the Canton Fair platform, and adopt new measures to boost new momentum, the Ministry of Commerce has further improved its management methods to facilitate more high-quality production enterprises to directly participate in exhibitions. Enterprises with development potential, titles such as high-tech, specialized and innovative, and manufacturing industry champions, have stepped onto the large booth of the Canton Fair. 

Xiao Lu stated that in July of this year, the exhibition revised and introduced the management measures for joint venture participation, clarifying that at least 10% of the booths in each exhibition area can be arranged for enterprises with development potential but no export value or export value that has not yet reached the exhibition standards, with titles such as high-tech, specialized and innovative, and manufacturing industry champions. As of now, among the 136th Canton Fair, the number of high-quality enterprises with the above titles has exceeded 8000 for the first time, with 24000 booths, accounting for 27% and 33.6% of the total number of export exhibition enterprises and booths, respectively, an increase of 40% and 43% compared to the previous session.

To adapt to the new situation, this year's Canton Fair has set up a total of 171 product zones, including 16 zones for smart themes. The number of participating companies has increased by nearly 300 compared to the previous session, and the number of booths has increased by about 26.5%. 57.8% of the exhibitors in the Canton Fair used big data, artificial intelligence, industrial Internet and other technical tools to transform and upgrade the industrial chain. 55.9% of enterprises have patents in the fields of green and low-carbon, including appearance, utility, and invention. Various enterprises will showcase over 1.04 million green and low-carbon products at the Canton Fair, which is more than 130% higher than the previous edition.

 Strengthen intellectual property protection and encourage more new products and technologies to debut. "According to the pre exhibition survey, 94% of the exhibitors brought new products and 64.8% exhibited products with independent intellectual property rights." Xiao Lu said that more than one million new products and products with independent intellectual property rights were on display at this Canton Fair, and a number of humanoid robots, intelligent devices, and driverless products will be unveiled for the first time. From this Canton Fair, with the strong support of the China National Intellectual Property Administration, the exhibition certificate will be issued for the original invention, brand trademark, appearance innovation and other products exhibited for the first time, so as to better help enterprises apply for patents and protect intellectual property rights.

 In recent years, China has introduced a series of policy measures, such as increasing support for new trade modes such as cross-border e-commerce and overseas warehouses, optimizing the foreign trade business environment, and strengthening intellectual property protection. The implementation of these policies has provided us with a more relaxed and convenient development environment for foreign trade enterprises, and has also stimulated our innovation vitality and market competitiveness. We have more confidence in future development, "said the person in charge of an exhibiting company.

Brand going global enters a new stage Currently, 

China is accelerating the development of new quality productive forces, with a clear trend towards high-end, intelligent, and green manufacturing. Innovation has made Chinese manufacturing more widely favored, "said Wang Lingjun, Deputy Director of the General Administration of Customs. 

Data shows that in September of this year, China's exports maintained growth for the sixth consecutive month, with a cumulative export scale of 18.62 trillion yuan in the first three quarters, reaching a new historical high for the same period, a year-on-year increase of 6.2%, and a growth rate 0.5 percentage points higher than the average growth rate of the same period in the past 10 years. 

Currently, China's foreign trade is facing a more complex and severe external environment, with ongoing geopolitical and trade protection impacts, and a significant increase in uncertain and unstable factors. However, at the same time, the fundamentals of China's economic development have not changed, and there is still confidence in continuing to do a good job in the next stage of work. 

According to preliminary calculations based on data released by various economies, China's overall export share in the global market is steadily increasing. Among the main export products, from furniture and household appliances to ships and containers, the share of the global market has increased to varying degrees. China's exports still have strong resilience. "said Lv Daliang, spokesperson for the General Administration of Customs and Director of the Statistical Analysis Department. Currently, China is accelerating the construction of a modern industrial system, developing new quality productivity according to local conditions. The advantages of strong manufacturing foundation, complete industrial categories, and large industrial system scale are still solid, and its position in the global industrial chain and supply chain pattern continues to consolidate. Recently, a survey conducted on over 800 major export enterprises nationwide showed that 69% of them expect their exports to remain stable or increase in the fourth quarter.

At the "New Channels and New Models Empowering Diversified Development of Foreign Trade Forum" at the Canton Fair, the E-commerce Institute of the Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce released the "Report on the Development of Chinese Brands Going Global", which showed that China's brand going global has gone through four stages from 1978 to the present: the initial stage of brand going global, the exploration stage, the growth stage, and the innovation stage. Since 2020, Chinese brands have started to adopt various marketing methods to integrate into local markets and enhance their international influence when going global.

 Researcher Zhou Wei from the Institute of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce pointed out that through the Canton Fair, it can be seen that advanced manufacturing not only strengthens the "high quality" of products, but also demonstrates the "intelligence, efficiency, and green low-carbon" of processes, and can perceive the accelerated release of new trade drivers in China.