A view of Guangzhou's CBD area. [Photo/Sipa]

Southern metropolis brings offline fairs to domestic, international players

Dozens of industry exhibitions are scheduled to be held in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, in February and March, aiming to boost trade and business activity, according to the local commerce authority.

A three-day national forest firefighting and emergency rescue equipment exhibition was started on Wednesday in the city's Huadu district, attracting domestic and overseas players to display new products and technologies in forest firefighting.

Following the fifth National Forest Firefighting and Emergency Rescue Equipment Exhibition, the first event following the Spring Festival holiday, more than 50 exhibitions covering the industries of manufacturing, automobiles, furniture, medical treatment, industrial design, food and animation will be held in the city within two months.

The Guangzhou Bureau of Commerce will make more efforts to create a safe exhibition environment for exhibitors by announcing financial subsidies for exhibition enterprises.

In 2022, nearly 60 million yuan ($8.85 million) in financial support was given to exhibition enterprises in Guangzhou, which organized about 200 exhibition events, against headwinds including lowered demand in the international market and the COVID-19 resurgence.

The import and export volume of Guangzhou, a traditional trading city in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, increased 1.10 percent year-on-year to 1.09 trillion yuan in 2022, according to the local statistics authority.

Of the exhibition events, an international beauty expo, with an exhibition area of over 200,000 square meters, will be held on March 10-12.

An international furniture expo, with an exhibition area of more than 500,000 sq m, is scheduled to open with two sessions in March, helping to attract hundreds of international buyers from the United States, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Poland and some other countries and regions.

"Professional trade exhibitions help us to better meet international buyers," said Yang Shan, chairman of Skymen Group, a Shenzhen-based company engaged in ultrasonic cleaning industry.

Additionally, the China Import and Export Fair, or Canton Fair, the country's biggest trade event in exhibition size and transaction volume, will fully resume offline this year, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

"The resumption of large offline trade events helps domestic exporters promote trade with international partners on a firmer footing," said Li Xingqian, director-general of the ministry's department of foreign trade.

The 133rd Canton Fair is scheduled to open on April 15th in Guangzhou. The event's organizers have so far sent 950,000 invitations to domestic and foreign buyers and 177 global partners.

Following the operation of the fourth phase of the Pazhou International Convention and Exhibition Center, the exhibition hall area of the fair will expand to 1.5 million sq m and the number of offline booths is expected to increase to nearly 70,000, according to the organizers.