253,000! Overseas buyers at "China's No. 1 Exhibition" hit a record high

Xinhua News Agency, Guangzhou, November 4 (Reporters Ding Le and Hong Zehua) China Foreign Trade Center released information on the 4th that a total of 253,000 overseas buyers attended the 136th Canton Fair, exceeding 250,000 for the first time, setting a historical high. The number of leading multinational purchasing companies exceeded 300 for the first time, reaching 308.

As of November 3, a total of 253,000 overseas buyers from 214 countries and regions attended the 136th Canton Fair, an increase of 2.8% over the previous session. Among them, buyers from countries participating in the "Belt and Road" accounted for more than 60%, totaling 165,000, an increase of 3.7%; the number of buyers from Middle Eastern countries grew fastest, reaching 34,000, an increase of 32.6%; buyers from European and American countries rebounded significantly, with 54,000 people attending, an increase of 8.2%.

Zhou Shanqing, director of the Canton Fair News Center and deputy director of the China Foreign Trade Center, introduced that the export intention transaction volume of this Canton Fair was US$24.95 billion, an increase over the previous session. The transaction volume of countries participating in the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative accounted for more than half, and the transaction volume in traditional markets of Europe and the United States increased. "The overseas buyers attending this session have clear purchasing goals and strong willingness to cooperate. More transactions are expected to be achieved through on-site factory inspections and in-depth docking."

A total of 730 companies from 49 countries and regions participated in the import exhibition of this Canton Fair, of which 65.5% were from countries participating in the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, and 33% were from RCEP member countries. Companies from exhibition groups such as Russia, Malaysia, and Vietnam reached cooperation intentions with Chinese companies. Exhibition groups such as Turkey, South Korea, and Egypt will continue to participate in the exhibition in groups next time.

After the offline exhibition of this Canton Fair closed, the online platform continued to operate normally. The 137th Canton Fair will be held in Guangzhou in three phases from April 15 to May 5 next year.