Foreign buyers eye e-trade exhibitions
▶ Canton Fair moves online as pandemic makes travel, shipping tough
With few trade events being held around the world due to COVID-19 pandemic, foreign buyers and company representatives are eager to participate in online events held by China, including the upcoming Canton Fair, which observers say will offer an efficient and convenient platform for commodities trade.
The spring session of the Canton Fair, a barometer of China’s foreign trade that’s been held for the past 63 years, will kick off online on Monday.
The event is drawing a warm response from foreign clients, including those from the US, trade officials and exhibitors told the Global Times. Among 23 promotion campaigns for this year’s Canton Fair, two were held in the US and obtained a sound response.
Both companies and individual buyers are anticipating this year’s fair, said Liu Quandong, director of the International Communication Department of the China Foreign Trade Centre, organizer of the trade fair.
“Given the special global context amid the virus, US businesses hope to find opportunities at the trade fair,” Liu told the Global Times on Wednesday.
US buyers have been a stable source of participants at the fair, despite bilateral trade disputes. They were among the top three sources of foreign buyers for the Canton Fair last year.
“I’ve registered for the fair online, as most business activity has been halted during the pandemic. It’s efficient and interesting to get inspiration and find things to buy from the world’s largest fair by just sitting at home,” Chris Zhang, a California-based businesswoman, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
As a regular attendee of the fair, Amir Ahmed Gadalla, chief representative of Bazaar International Co from Sudan, told the Global Times on Wednesday that he’s “ready to join and see how they can do this online.”
“Many of our customers have been asking us about our ‘livestreaming room number,’ which is like a booth number for the offline Canton Fair,” Serena Chen, an exhibitor at this year’s online Canton Fair, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
“They are more passionate and curious than we are about this new form of trade fair that surprised us,” Chen said.
Officials said that the fair has increased invitations to buyers from countries and regions along the Belt and Road Initiative routes and also to members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
The Canton Fair has set up 50 virtual exhibition zones and is providing 24-hour online supply and purchase services, Li Jinqi, an official with the Ministry of Commerce, told a press conference on Wednesday.
Li said exhibitors could upload pictures and videos of their products on the platform.
“The number of products uploaded for display by companies has been higher than expected,” he said. The number of exhibitors reached 25,000 this year, similar to the level last year.
“It’s a challenge for us, as we have to talk in front of the camera for two to three hours in English, but we’re taking this quite seriously and don’t want to spoil the first online fair,” Chen said.