Xinhua News Agency, Guangzhou, April 15th. Title: The hot start of "China's First Exhibition" highlights the resilience and confidence in foreign trade

Xinhua News Agency reporters Zhan Yijia and Ding Le

At 9:00 on the 15th, people flocked to the Guangzhou International Convention and Exhibition Center by the Pearl River. In the service robot exhibition area of ​​the Center Friendship Hall, many overseas buyers held up their mobile phones to shoot pictures of robot dogs, industrial exoskeleton equipment, automatic cruise robots, coffee robots, etc., and exclaimed from time to time.

The 137th China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair) exhibited about 31,000 exhibitors, of which the export exhibition exceeded 30,000 for the first time, attracting more than 200,000 overseas buyers to register. The Canton Fair is known as the "China's No. 1 Exhibition" and is the longest and largest comprehensive international trade event in China's history.

Recently, many international institutions and economic and trade experts have stated that the global trade order is facing severe challenges and may delay the global economic recovery process. At a time when the international trade situation is turbulent, the two-way pursuit of massive exhibitors and buyers in the Canton Fair fully reflects China's resilience and confidence in foreign trade.

This Canton Fair will be held in three phases from April 15 to May 5. It will be themed "Advanced Manufacturing", "Quality Home" and "Better Life". It will have 55 exhibition areas and 172 product areas. According to data from the organizer China Foreign Trade Center, the 137th Canton Fair has more than 9,700 exhibitors with titles such as national high-tech, specialized and specialized small giants, and manufacturing single champion, an increase of 20% over the previous session.

On April 15, on the opening day of the 137th Canton Fair, Chinese and foreign merchants walked in the venue of the Canton Fair. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Dawei

The central air conditioner with "cold air does not blow directly, hot air warms the whole body" can enjoy dry cleaning services at home, such as the new generation of heat pump washing machine, and the whole-region fresh-staple refrigerator equipped with broadband compressor and frequency conversion control technology... Zhuhai Gree Electric Co., Ltd. has a wide range of new products on the booth.

Guo Yanhu, assistant director of the company's literary and communication center, said that Gree Electric Appliances provides users with efficient, intelligent and low-carbon solutions through green technology innovation and AI intelligent upgrades. In 2024, the products will be sold to more than 190 countries and regions, of which independent brands account for 70% of the total export volume.

Haier Overseas Electrical Appliances Industry Co., Ltd. not only invited a large number of old customers at this Canton Fair, but also welcomed new customers from Türkiye, Uzbekistan and other countries. Zhang Qingfu, vice president of the company, said: "Borrowing the international platform of the Canton Fair, we can not only negotiate and cooperate with old customers and promote more transactions, but also open up more new customers, communicate more with excellent suppliers and buyers, expand the space for cooperation, and achieve the expansion of the 'circle of friends'."

The Canton Fair, where "all businesses gather", has long been regarded as the "barometer" and "weather vane" of China's foreign trade. As of April 13, more than 200,000 overseas buyers in 215 countries and regions have pre-registered this Canton Fair; 255 large merchants including Walmart, Target, France, Love and Andawu, Tesco and Cuifeng, Germany, Metro and Rever confirmed their participation.

On April 15, an overseas buyer (middle) negotiated purchases in the exhibition area of ​​an electrical appliance company. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Dawei

"From the indicators of pre-registration volume of overseas buyers, hotel booking volume and flight booking rate, overseas buyers at the 137th Canton Fair are expected to continue to maintain a trend of stable quantity and quality improvement." Zhang Sihong, deputy director of the China Foreign Trade Center, said.

The Brazilian Goias State Industrial Alliance, which has more than 20,000 industrial and commercial members, organized a delegation of Brazilian entrepreneurs and institutions to attend this Canton Fair. "The Canton Fair has always been an important driving force for global trade." Andre Rocha, president of the Brazilian Goias State Industrial Alliance, said, "We will understand and contact the major global development trends, cutting-edge technologies, and solutions that can effectively promote industrial development."

Just the day before the opening of the Canton Fair, the General Administration of Customs released its first quarterly report on foreign trade, showing that China's total import and export of goods in the first quarter of 2025 was 10.3 trillion yuan. With the increasing number of external difficulties and challenges, China's foreign trade resilience has not diminished, and achieved a stable start in the first quarter, an increase of 1.3% year-on-year.

Now, the Canton Fair has arrived as scheduled with a more open attitude, sending a strong signal to the world that China is unswervingly expanding its opening up and sharing development opportunities with countries around the world.

Zheng Xiaosong, general manager of overseas marketing of the International Marketing Department of Skyworth Electric Co., Ltd., told reporters that the company's overseas marketing team has entered the busy "Cantonese Fair time" since early April, and buyers come to visit the factory in advance and negotiate cooperation every day.

Zhang Sihong said that global buyers gathered in the Canton Fair, which fully reflects the global business community’s trust in the Canton Fair and its trust in China’s manufacturing. It also shows that people from all over the world’s world’s yearning for a better life and pursuit of good products and good prices will not change, and the general trend of economic globalization will not change.