Canton Fair

What’s Canton Fair

No.1 exhibition in China

The exhibition area of each session totals 1.185 million ㎡ and the number of exhibitors from home and abroad stands at nearly 26,000. In each session, about 200,000 buyers attend the Fair from more than 210 countries and regions all over the world.

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No.1 exhibition in China.

China Import and Export Fair, also known as Canton Fair, was established in 1957. Over years of development,Canton Fair now serves as the first and foremost platform to promote China’s foreign trade, and a barometer of the foreign trade sector. It is the window, epitome and symbol of China’s opening up. Up to the 126th session, the accumulated export volume has amounted to about USD 1.4126 trillion and the total number of overseas buyers has reached 8.99 million. The exhibition area of each session totals 1.185 million ㎡ and the number of exhibitors from home and abroad stands at nearly 26,000. In each session, about 200,000 buyers attend the Fair from more than 210 countries and regions all over the world. In 2020, against the raging global pandemic of corona virus and severely battered global trade, the 127th and the 128th Canton Fair were held online.

Address:

No. 380, Yuejiang Zhong Road, Guangzhou, China

Office Site:

https://www.cantonfair.org.cn/en

The Time of Canton Fair

The Canton Fair has two sessions, one in spring, one in autumn. And there are 3 phases of each session.
  • Spring   Phase 1  Abr. 15-19
  • Spring   Phase 2 Abr. 23-27
  • Spring   Phase 3 May 01-05
  • Autumn  Phase 1 Oct. 15-19
  • Autumn  Phase 2 Oct. 23-27
  • Autumn  Phase 3 Oct. 31 – Nov. 04

Opening Time: 9:30-18:00

Open during the weekend

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The main products of each phase

Phase 1

Spring and Autumn

  • Large machinery&equipment
  • Small machinery
  • Bike
  • Motor bike
  • Auto accessory
  • Chemical products
  • Hardware
  • Tools
  • Vehicle(outside)
  • Construction machinery
  • Household electrical appliance
  • Electrical consumer products
  • Electrical and electronic products
  • Computer and communication facilities
  • Lighting products
  • Construction&decoration material
  • Bathroom products
  • Import area
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Phase 2

Spring and Autumn

  • Kitchenware
  • Daily ceramic products
  • Craft ceramic products
  • Home decoration
  • Glass
  • Craft
  • Furniture Waving, rattan and iron products
  • Garden products
  • Iron and stone products (outdoor)
  • Household items
  • Personal care appliances
  • Bathroom supplies
  • Watches &glasses
  • Toys
  • Gifts
  • Party supplies
  • Local products
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Phase 3

Spring and Autumn

  • Men’s and women’s wear
  • Children’s wear
  • Underwear
  • Sportswear and casual wear
  • Clothing accessories and accessories
  • Home textiles
  • Textile&fabrics
  • Carpets and Tapestries
  • Food medicine and health care products
  • Medical equipment
  • Sports and tourism
  • Leisure goods
  • Office stationery
  • Shoes bags and suitcases
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The advantages of Canton Fair

Good platform

Canton fair is a good platform for all buyers to find right suppliers with good products.

Trendy products

You will see the new products on the fair which the factory has not shown before

More Choice

You can meet with suppliers and talk with them directly. It will be easier for you to distinguish which supplier is your choice.

Save Time

You can check quality of samples, ask questions with sales directly. It will help you to make quick decision about the order.

The disadvantages of Canton Fair

01

The suppliers on Canton Fair will require high MOQ of each product, normally need to order by containers of each one.It will not good for starters or retailers.

02

Sales there will speak English or Chinese. If you speak other languages, then you need to find an translator to accompany you. The cost of translator will be high.

03

During the period of Canton Fair, all the hotel fee in Guangzhou will increased rapidly and it is will be difficult to book it.

04

The exhibition time of each products isn’t very long, just 5 days. It will require you to make quick decision and finish product checking asap.

How to attend the Canton Fair

Canton fair invitation, With the invitation letter, buyers will be able to:

Apply for a visa to come to China
Invitation letter

Canton Fair will invite buyers to attend the fair. There are two types of invitation letter, electronic invitation letter and paper invitation letter.

Paper invitation letter:

This kind of invitation letter is the precondition for visitors to apply visa to China and will be sent by mail. One letter can be shared with 3 represents in the same company.

The copy is invalid.

Electronic invitation letter:

This is another kind of formal invitation later and the copy is valid. It can be shared by a group of represents in one company.

It is also sent by mail.

What you can do with the invitation letter

In order to apply visa successfully, when you ask for invitation letter, you need to provide real personal information, like name, nationality, address and company’s name. If you have been to Canton Fair before and bought IC card, pls note this card can use for different fairs and you can enter the hall directly. It will save time. But if you are new visitors, then you need to obtain invitation letter.

Tips:

In order to apply visa successfully, when you ask for invitation letter, you need to provide real personal information, like name, nationality, address and company’s name.

If you have been to Canton Fair before and bought IC card, pls note this card can use for different fairs and you can enter the hall directly. It will save time. But if you are new visitors, then you need to obtain invitation letter.

The way to obtain invitation letter:

BEST is the free specific platform which is built by organizer of Canton Fair, you can obtain electronic invitation letter there quickly and get IC card for entering the hall.
Pls click this link to learn more about obtaining the invitation letter.

What do you need to take with when visit Canton Fair.

A suitcase which is easy to take. Because there are many suppliers to show you different samples. If you want to place order later, it would be better to keep an sample with you for quality checking.
Also, you can collect some different samples for new ideas. In this case, it will be more convenient if you can put the samples or other items into suitcase. And you can visit the fair more easily.

Notebook and Pen: You will need to record some information, like products’ price, MOQ, suppliers’ information. A notebook will help you to make every details clear.

Take lots of business cards with you: because every supplier you have a conversation with will ask you for your card. If you ask them for a catalogue, expect to give a business card in exchange.

Minimun order: 10000 USD

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FAQs

All the frequently asked question you need to know before visit Canton Fair!

Attending the trade show itself is free of charge, assuming you pre-register on the official website. If not, you’ll need to pay 200 RMB to register at the exhibition. There are of course other costs to take into consideration:

*Flights

*Taxis

*Hotels

*Visa application fees

*Travel insurance

A solo attendee flying in from Europe, Australia or North America should budget at least $1500 for the entire trip. Clearly, it’s less if you’re based nearby, for example in Hong Kong or Singapore.

The sample products aren’t for sale but sometimes, if you’re lucky enough, the exhibitor may give you a free sample.

Most of the products on display are off-the-shelf items, many of which are already big sellers on places like Amazon or even in your local bricks and mortar stores.

But if you look harder, you can find unique products and those may not be available for sale yet in your home country. It’s worth keeping an open mind- you’re more likely to find something interesting! Think about ways that you can modify an existing product to make it new or to improve it- talk to the suppliers about how to make this happen.

Most exhibitors speak basic English and can talk with English speaker fluently.

There will be problems if you speak other language, like Spanish, France,etc.

Download a translator app however note- if your wi-fi access isn’t great, the app won’t work properly! You could also try arranging for a translator to work for you while you’re at the fair.

Most manufacturers send their English speaking sales reps to the Canton Fair. Hence, I recommend that you don’t book any supplier visits during or around the Canton Fair dates. Instead, you should go at least a few days before or after the exhibition starts.

The navigation design should communicate the relationship between the links it contains so that users understand the options they have for navigating the site.

Depends! You won’t be able to see the whole fair even if you’re there for the whole 5-days of the phase. There’s just too much to see! I would say ideally try to be there for three days.

The first day, you will just be in shock  and trying to navigate your way around the buildings. The second day you will probably spend more time searching for products and asking suppliers questions. The third day, you may go back and revisit some of the things you saw the day before. You might have more supplier questions, or want to take a look at a different part of the fair. After the third day, I had enough.

Day 5 only operates for half a day in the morning so that the suppliers can pack up their booths before the weekend, so that the next phase can set up.

We found the afternoons less busy than the mornings- it seems people like to get there early, walk around and then have lunch and then leave, perhaps for a siesta (lots of European buyers visit the fair)?

Note that on Friday, the fair is only open for half a day, because the exhibitors need to pack up their goods as the phase finishes up and prepares for the new exhibitors for the next phase.

I recommend you to stay at a hotel close to Pazhou International Exhibition Centre, which is the Canton Fair venue.

*Langham Place Guangzhou

*The Westin Pazhou

*Shangri-La Hotel Guangzhou

*Intercontinental Guangzhou Exhibition Center

Keep in mind that hotel rates increase significantly during the Canton Fair, with some hotels charging more than twice their standard rate. That said, there are budget hotels and hostels in the proximity to the Pazhou International Exhibition Centre.