The 103rd Canton Fair, scheduled for April 15 to 30 next year, will have a larger exhibition floor space following completion of an expansion project on one of its two existing venues.

 

Xu Bing, spokesman for Canton Fair, a biannual event, said the export-oriented space would be enlarged from 620,000 sq m at the 102nd fair to 820,000 sq m.

 

"We will install 41,000 business booths, an increase of 8,000 to 10,000 from the 102nd fair," said Xu. "The enlarged space will provide more small and medium-sized Chinese enterprises with an opportunity to exhibit at the fair and go global."

 

Meanwhile, the import exhibition space would expand to 20,000 sq m from 15,000 sq m and the import exhibition, which were dominated by consumer products and industrial goods, would be the first stage of the fair.

 

The Canton Fair, formerly known as the China (Guangzhou) Export Commodity Fair, a biannual event held in spring and autumn, was first held in 1957 and is considered a weathervane of the country's foreign trade.

 

Earlier this year, the country's oldest trade fair officially changed its name to the China Import and Export Commodities Fair, in a bid to show the world China's efforts to increase imports and reduce its trade surplus which has triggered trade disputes with other countries.

 

Manufactured goods, textiles and garments, foodstuffs and pharmaceuticals are showcased at the first stage of each fair, which runs from April 15 to 20 and Oct. 15 to 20. In the second stage, from April 25 to 30 or Oct. 25 to 30, souvenirs and gifts, and commodities for daily use are exhibited.

 

The 102nd fair, which closed on Tuesday, reported a record 37.45 billion US dollars in export business deals, a 2.9 percent rise from the spring fair.

 

Altogether 189,500 business people from 213 countries and regions attended the fair.

 

Canton Fair: a chance to restore image of China-made products

 

(Xinhua News Agency November 1, 2007)