A record number of overseas purchasers registered for the just-concluded 131st session of the China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, reaching 536,000 purchasers from 228 countries and regions.

The amount increased by 41.8 percent from the 130th session, said Xu Bing, spokesperson for the fair. The trade fair was held online from April 15 to April 24 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Xu, a total of 3.05 million exhibits have been uploaded by domestic and foreign enterprises, and 951,500 of them were new products. Both exhibits and products hit a record high. More exhibitors launched exhibits based on their own research and development, People's Daily overseas edition reported on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, green and low-carbon products were a shining spot at this Canton Fair, the newspaper said. It quoted Feng Limei, general manager of a company in Foshan, Guangdong province, saying that bamboo will not cause soil erosion during harvest and has a fast growth cycle. It can replace trees as raw materials for production, so as to protect the environment and save resources. Feng's company also brought many new bamboo products to the Canton Fair, including environmentally friendly cups and lunch boxes.

The pandemic has changed people's living and eating habits, greatly increasing the demand for disposable tableware. The degradable tableware of Feng's company has received many negotiation intentions, Feng told People's Daily overseas edition.

The online exhibition hall received over 6.2 million visits over the past ten days. A total of 210,500 electronic business cards were issued by exhibitors, and about 100,000 online conversations were held by overseas buyers, according to Xu.

China's foreign trade maintained its growth trajectory in the first quarter. The total imports and exports expanded 10.7 percent year-on-year to 9.42 trillion yuan ($1.48 trillion) in the first three months, data from the General Administration of Customs (GAC) showed on April 13.

Exports surged 13.4 percent on a yearly basis to 5.23 trillion yuan, while imports rose 7.5 percent to 4.19 trillion yuan, leading to a trade surplus of 1.04 trillion yuan, the data showed.