Guests communicate before the opening ceremony of the 140th China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair), held in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province on October 14, 2026. Photo: CNS Photo

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday sent a congratulatory letter to the 140th edition of the China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair. In his letter, Xi said over the past 70 years since its establishment, the Canton Fair has played a significant role in promoting trade exchanges between China and other countries, serving as an effective platform for China to expand high-level opening up and promote the building of an open world economy.

An opening ceremony for the 140th session was held on Wednesday. Chinese Premier Li Qiang attended the ceremony and delivered a keynote speech, emphasizing that China will continue to promote high-quality development, expand high-standard opening up, and take proactive and practical actions to add more impetus to the world economy.

He said China stands ready to share more market opportunities, expand more mutually beneficial cooperation, and firmly safeguard the international economic and trade order with all parties.

Participants at the opening ceremony, including representatives of exhibitors and buyers, echoed that the Canton Fair has grown into a significant trade platform for people from all over the world to match supply and demand. The 70-year journey of the Canton Fair is a vivid microcosm of China's transition from "selling to the world" to "linking the global supply chain."

"I've been attending the Canton Fair for the last 10 years. It is always something very special for me, because every time I attend, I discover something new," Ahmed Abdelraouf Samman, general manager of SMN International, also a veteran participant from Egypt, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

He characterized the Canton Fair as embodying innovation, credibility and a new world. "If you want to start any business, enhance your business, grow your business, or even take your business much farther, the Canton Fair is the place - all in one."

For Rehman, director of social media services at RK Co, Ltd., the Canton Fair has provided a lot of business opportunities. The Pakistan-born participant has attended the Canton Fair for 10 years.

"I grew up with the Canton Fair. I found many suppliers for different kinds of products at the fair, and we partner together to bring customized products to my customers in the Middle East market," Rehman told the Global Times. 

Continuous opening-up, more opportunities

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Canton Fair. From its inaugural session of just 9,600 square meters and 1,200 buyers in April 1957 to today's 1.55 million square meters and around 340,000 buyers, the fair has been held without interruption for 140 sessions. It serves as the most tangible proof of China's long-term commitment to opening-up.

In 2007, at its 101st session, the Canton Fair was officially renamed the China Import and Export Fair, changing from its designation as the Chinese Export Commodities Exhibition. That was when it introduced an import section for the first time, shifting from a one-way export platform to two-way trade one. The fair later grew into an important platform for international trade cooperation, according to exhibitors and buyers from around the world.

To date, the total number of overseas buyers attending the Canton Fair onsite and online has exceeded 10 million.

In 2021, the Canton Fair was held both online and offline for the first time, fully opening to domestic buyers to help foreign exhibitors explore the China market during a time when global trade was impacted. The import section has continued to expand, with more than 1,7000 companies from over 100 countries and regions participating, including Fortune 500 companies.

This section is full of stories about how overseas companies expand their global sales network through the Canton Fair. For example, Tek Seng, a PVC manufacturer from Malaysia, achieved its goal of "selling globally" through the fair. "About 10 years ago, we started with a small independent booth. The Canton Fair helped us discover global business opportunities," a representative of the company said previously.

"The Chinese market offers big opportunities for Colombian and Latin American enterprises. I've lived in China for over 15 years, so I can testify how China has become a good partner of South America and Colombia," Juan Juan Camilo Basto, co-funder of Basal Trading Co, a member of the Colombian-Chinese Chamber of Investment and Commerce, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Basto has attended the Canton Fair 25 times. He described it as the "World Cup of the business," meaning it's the most important international business meeting.

'Factory of factories'

Apart from providing a platform, the Canton Fair epitomizes how China's products, technologies and services are enabling global suppliers to upgrade and become more intelligent.

Phase 1 of the 140th Canton Fair is themed "advanced manufacturing," featuring more than 25,000 booths and over 12,000 exhibitors. This phase showcases17 emerging future industry zones, including service robots, drones and display technology. Two exhibition halls highlight brain-computer interfaces, new energy storage, high-end chips and AI visualization products. 

These exhibits are not only the latest achievements of "Made in China" but also a window for "Chinese capabilities" to be exported to the world. China's exports of intermediate products - viewed as "Chinese capabilities" - provide essential support for production and exports in other countries, positioning China as a "factory of factories." This helps overseas factories achieve digital and intelligent upgrades through products and technology.

"China plays an important role in the world, not only as a factory for producing goods, but also in adding value to the market - we can exchange knowledge and technologies," said Basto.

Relying on the world's most complete industrial system, Chinese manufacturing has built a full-chain supply capacity, spanning from core components and high-end equipment to system solutions. This helps offset global industrial-chain fragmentation and supply-chain volatility.

This strength is evident among exhibitors. Guangzhou-based industrial IoT platform provider iROOTECH has developed integrated software-hardware solutions through industrial intelligence and robotics, serving enterprises in more than 120 countries and regions.

"Our intelligent after-sales maintenance platform helps our overseas customers solve the 'last mile' problem. For one of our customers in Thailand, the time required for fault detection and diagnosis was reduced by over 50 percent, maintenance efficiency increased by 30 percent, and losses from unplanned downtime were saved, amounting to more than 100 million yuan ($14.9 million)," Xu Zinan, sales director at iROOTECH, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

This example shows how China is integrating into and supporting the global supply chain with a more open posture, not only providing goods to the world but also offering "manufacturing capability" itself. Advanced manufacturing and technology are becoming key forces that support the global supply chain.

"From the perspective of the global supply chain, Chinese enterprises are a crucial part. In terms of markets, China's expanding market, which continues to open wider, offers more opportunities all over the world," Tian Yun, a Beijing-based economist, told the Global Times.

At this 70th-anniversary milestone, the Canton Fair represents more than commodity trading. It symbolizes the certainty China offers the world: In an age of supply-chain fragmentation, advanced manufacturing and technological capabilities from China provide critical support for global stability, participants said.