At about 10 am in the morning, traffic was gridlocked outside a massive building in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province. Many people were already lining up to enter the building. Inside, people of all nationalities and ethnicities carrying luggage moved around in a hurry.
This busy scene looks just like a bustling international airport. But looking closer, you’ll find out what's really taking place: at stands of various sizes, vendors with calculators and catalogues of products were talking with visitors; visitors occasionally took out their phones to take photos of the products, and some were pushing shopping carts full of samples.
This is an everyday picture during the China Import and Export Fair, commonly know as the Canton Fair. The second session of the 134th Canton Fair, which focuses on showcasing products such as home appliances, gifts and decorations and building materials and furniture, officially kicked off on Monday and is scheduled to conclude today.
The autumn session of this year’s Canton Fair has set multiple records. The total exhibition area has expanded to 1.55 million square meters, an increase of 50,000 square meters compared with the previous session. There are 74,000 booths, with 28,533 exhibiting companies.
More than 9,600 businesses, including over 200 exhibitors from nearly 30 countries and regions participated in the event in-person, setting a new record for the number of on-site exhibitors, according to China Foreign Trade Centre, the organizer of Canton Fair.
As of Thursday, some 155,000 overseas buyers from 214 countries and regions have attended the event, an increase of more than 50 percent compared with the same phase of the last session of the fair.
Embracing opportunities from the BRI
One of the biggest highlights of the 134th Canton Fair is the active participation of BRI partner countries and regions, with the proportion of relevant attendees increasing from 50.4 percent to 58.1 percent over the past decade.
Export deals worth 12.33 billion U.S. dollars were signed offline during the first phase of the fair, which concluded on Oct. 19, with more than half of the export deals from BRI partner countries, an official of the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday.
The Canton Fair has become an important platform for companies to explore the Belt and Road markets.
As one of the first Chinese manufacturers to "go global," Chinese home appliances manufacturer Galanz Group has supplied products and services to nearly 200 countries and regions, with about a third of export sales coming from BRI partner countries.
Russia is one of the most populous markets for Galanz, and was among its earliest. By leveraging a full industrial chain and local-team operations, Galanz has increased its microwave oven, dishwasher, refrigerator and other home appliance market shares in the Russian market.
As early as 2004, Orbus & Teksan, a company specializing in portable energy storage systems in Türkiye, began participating in the Canton Fair and has now grown to become the largest of its kind in Türkiye.
Türkiye has organized 125 companies to participate, covering industries such as consumer electronics, hardware tools, building materials, furniture, household items and food.
With the platforms brought by the Canton Fair, many BRI partner countries have purchased high-quality and cost-effective products from China and opened sales channels for their own specialty products in the country, achieving win-win results.
Epitome of China’s high-quality growth
More than just growth in orders, many at the Canton Fair are also seeing major shift in the trend of new products that are much more environmentally friendly and cost effective thanks to continuous innovation.
Electric passenger vehicles, lithium batteries and solar cells have become the new business signature for China's foreign trade exports.
In recent years, as green and low-carbon have become a trend worldwide, the Chinese new energy industry has ushered in huge market dividends. According to statistics, nearly 90 percent of the global photovoltaic industry's production capacity is in China. Last year, China's photovoltaic product export scale exceeded 50 billion US dollars for the first time, a year-on-year increase of 80.3 percent.
Participating companies of this edition of the Canton Fair have uploaded about 430,000 green and low-carbon products and about 110,000 intelligent products, demonstrating the vigorous development of the Canton Fair and the continuous optimization of China's foreign trade structure.
China’s exports of electric vehicles, lithium batteries and solar cells surged 41.7 percent in the first three quarters of 2023 from a year earlier to 99 billion yuan, according to the General Administration of Customs. This accounted for 4.5 percent of the country’s total exports, up 1.3 percentage point from a year ago.
Exports of mechanical and electrical products grew by 3.3 percent year-on-year to 10.26 trillion yuan, far exceeding the 3.07 trillion yuan in exports of labor-intensive products. Most notably, China's exports of cars and auto parts surged by 48.2 percent year-on-year, customs data showed.
The upgrade of typical export products from clothing, furniture and home appliances to electric passenger vehicles, lithium batteries and solar cells reflects the fast transformation and upgrading of China's advanced manufacturing and energy industries.
The 67-year-old Canton Fair, China's largest biannual trade fair, has become a reliable barometer of China's foreign trade. It has played a key role in advancing China's foreign trade and the economic and trade exchanges between China and the rest of the world. The history of Canton Fair is an epitome of the country's rapid growth.
10月，廣州“很忙”。
第134屆中國進出口交易會（下稱“廣交會”）的舉辦，讓全球客商再次云集廣州，廣交會場館內外人潮熙熙攘攘，貨如輪轉，好不熱鬧。走過67載風風雨雨，“中國第一展”依舊人氣不減。
10月15日至11月4日，第134屆廣交會在廣州分三期舉辦。大幕開啟，萬商云集，境外采購商踴躍與會，參展企業熱情高漲，現場洽談成交活躍。新市場、新潮流、新合作的背后是“世界工廠”的轉型升級和高質量發展，凸顯中國對外開放的大門越開越大。
自本屆廣交會開幕以來，截至10月25日，共有244個國家和地區，超過15萬境外采購商現場參會，數量已經超過上屆到會的總人數。較疫情前，即2019年秋季廣交會增長了3.2%。其中“一帶一路”共建國家采購商9.6萬人，占比64.1%，比疫情前增長了15.6%。
10月26日，商務部發言人束玨婷表示，正在舉行的第134屆廣交會，人氣足、成交活躍，境外采購商的到會數量和質量均有較大幅度的提升。各國客商對中國制造、中國商品興趣濃厚、青睞有加。
就第134屆廣交會至今取得的成果，束玨婷表示，第134屆廣交會第一期已于10月19日結束，目前正在舉行第二期。從廣交會前方反饋情況看，總體運行平穩，取得積極成效。采購商到會踴躍，成交呈恢復性增長態勢。
束玨婷說，第一期線下出口成交123.3億美元，較上屆增長9.2%。其中，“一帶一路”共建國家成交占比超過了五成。參展企業普遍反映，本屆廣交會現場成交以及采購商后續預約看廠的情況好于預期，信心有所恢復，對未來訂單數量保持樂觀。
廣受“一帶一路”共建國家青睞
在第134屆廣交會上，共建“一帶一路”國家和地區的采購商踴躍參會，參展企業占參展企業總數約六成。據了解，目前境外采購商累計到會人數約13萬人，比上屆同期大幅增長。其中，來自共建“一帶一路”國家和地區的采購商占比較大。參展企業普遍認為，境外采購商下單意愿較強，未來有望達成更多合作。
不少國內參展商表示，來自共建“一帶一路”國家的外商明顯變多了，廣交會已成公司開拓“一帶一路”市場的重要平臺，光是第一期，“一帶一路”共建國家成交占比就超過了五成。
在全球外需不穩的背景下，共建“一帶一路”國家市場成為不少廣交會參展企業的“新藍海”，部分企業在俄羅斯、巴西、東南亞等區域市場的業務增長達到50%甚至翻番。不少行業的從業者已經將目光從傳統的歐美市場轉移到以共建“一帶一路”國家為代表的新興市場。
共建“一帶一路”倡議提出10年來，我國與共建國家的貨物貿易累計規模達到19.1萬億美元，實現年均6.4%的增速，這個增速既高于同期我國外貿整體增速，也高于同期全球貿易增速。我國是110多個共建國家的主要貿易伙伴，已經與20個共建國家簽署了14個自貿協定，貿易自由化便利化水平不斷提升。
第134屆廣交會的會場上，“電光鋰”的身影處處可見，新能源“綠風”俘獲了“一帶一路”采購商的心。
格魯吉亞工商會駐廣東省會長、格魯吉亞“一帶一路”商務館創始人貝卡·梅卡伯利茲也注意到，近年來中國“新三樣”出口增速相當明顯，而廣交會為眾多外商提供了一個能親眼目睹和感受優質產品的絕佳平臺，“格魯吉亞進口很多中國的產品，比如我們格魯吉亞工商會大概有1萬多家公司，很多企業會來廣交會采購建筑材料、燈具、太陽能、電動車等品類產品，他們對此都很感興趣。”貝卡告訴記者，他在中國已經20年了，從2006年就開始參加廣交會，“很高興看到廣交會每年都有不同的產品亮相，每年都能感受到技術升級。”
“通過廣交會，我們找到了許多長期合作的供應商，公司能取得今天的成就，很大一部分原因歸功于廣交會。”土耳其特克桑公司首席執行官蘇克魯·奧茲達馬爾表示，早在2004年，他們公司便開始參加廣交會。蘇克魯表示，“土耳其是一個年輕而充滿活力的市場，相信越來越多來自中國的高新技術產品將進入土耳其以及其他歐洲國家市場。”
“依托廣交會平臺，許多’一帶一路’共建國家既采購到中國優質優價的產品，也打通了本國特色產品在中國的銷售渠道，實現了互利共贏。”廣交會新聞發言人徐兵說，“越來越多的貿易往來，讓中外市場交融日益密切。”
高質量發展的縮影
電動載人汽車、鋰離子蓄電池、太陽能電池等“新三樣”產品已成為我國外貿出口的新名片。從廣交會這個窗口不難看出，“新三樣”不僅成為了當紅“炸子雞”，也驅動了各國產業的綠色轉型。
海關總署數據顯示，今年前三季度電動載人汽車、鋰電池、太陽能電池“新三樣”產品出口值同比增長41.7%。占我國出口比重同比提升1.3個百分點，達到4.5%，出口值連續14個季度保持兩位數增長。從“老三樣”到“新三樣”的結構升級，背后折射的是我國先進制造業和能源產業轉型升級駛入快車道。
本屆廣交會上，“新三樣”產品大放異彩：增加約3000個展位，增幅超18%——本屆廣交會電子消費品、機械設備、新能源等機電產品展區呈現新變化。展區規模進一步擴大，不僅為更多高技術、高附加值企業提供參展機會，也為更多創新、高端、智能、綠色產品提供展示空間。
繼上屆廣交會增設“新能源及智能網聯汽車”展區后，本屆展會將之升級為“新能源汽車及智慧出行”展區，同時首次設立的品牌展位為更多“新三樣”企業提供商機。
值得一提的是，新能源展區規模增幅達172%。從新能源代步車、轎車、公交車、商用車等整車產品，到充電樁、儲能系統、鋰電池、太陽能電池、散熱器等零部件，新能源車全產業鏈產品競相展示，吸引眾多采購商前來體驗和洽談。
近年來，綠色低碳成為全球熱詞，中國新能源產業鏈迎來巨大的市場紅利。據統計，全球光伏產業近90%的產能在中國，去年中國光伏產品出口規模首次超過500億美元，同比增長80.3%。
本屆廣交會上，綠色、低碳的“中國制造”吸引了全球采購商的關注。據廣交會官方統計，本屆廣交會參展企業已上傳綠色低碳產品約43萬件、智能化產品約11萬件，顯示著廣交會蓬勃的發展活力和中國外貿結構的持續優化。
中國以精進的科技實力滿足更多市場需求，以發達的工業實力助力全球現代化產業體系升級，以強大的貿易實力推動全球貿易方式變革。即使全球經濟承壓，廣交天下、擁抱開放的中國仍持續惠及全球。
Executive Editor: Sonia YU
Editor: LI Yanxia
Host: Stephanie LI
Writer: Stephanie LI
Sound Editor: Stephanie LI
Graphic Designer: ZHENG Wenjing, LIAO Yuanni
Produced by 21st Century Business Herald Dept. of Overseas News.
Presented by SFC
編委: 于曉娜
策劃、編輯：李艷霞
播音：李瑩亮
撰稿：李瑩亮
音頻制作：李瑩亮
設計：鄭文靜、廖苑妮
