The 113th Canton Fair, which ended Sunday, witnessed a year-on-year slump in terms of attendance and sales volume, which experts said Monday indicates that external demand remains weak in the world's second-largest economy.

According to figures released by the fair, attendance by overseas purchasers dropped by 3.83 percent from one year earlier and export sales volume dropped by 1.4 percent to $35.54 billion. Attendance by merchants from the EU and the US also fell year-on-year.

Wan Jun, a researcher from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a government think tank, told the Global Times Monday that the European debt crisis and world economic recession had dragged down the attendance, and he didn't expect a real turnaround at the next fair in October.

Fair spokesperson Liu Jianjun said Monday the statistics showed that external demand has not improved, and the pressure on foreign trade has not yet been relieved. Liu said that rising labor and land costs, RMB appreciation and trade friction with other countries are the main reasons for the external demand pressure.

About 84 percent of orders placed at the fair came from agreements with terms of six months or less, the spokesperson said.

Global Times - Xinhua