On October 15th, the 136th Canton Fair will commence. From October 15th to November 4th, the Canton Fair will be held in three phases in Guangzhou, with the online platform continuing its regular operation.
It is understood that this session of the Canton Fair is themed "Serving high-quality development and promoting high-level openness". The total exhibition area reaches 1.55 million square meters, with a total of 74,000 booths and 55 exhibition areas, including 171 special zones.
The three phases will focus on the themes of "Advanced Manufacturing", "Quality Home", and "Good Life", embracing new quality productive forces. Over 30,000 companies will participate in the offline exhibition, among which approximately 29,400 are export-oriented companies, an increase of nearly 800 compared to the previous session.
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Chu Shijia, Director of the China Foreign Trade Center of the Ministry of Commerce, stated that this session of the Canton Fair has further enriched its business promotion methods. Currently, judging from indicators such as the pre-registration volume of overseas buyers, hotel reservations, and flight booking rates, the number of overseas buyers attending the 136th Canton Fair is expected to "stabilize in quantity and improve in quality".
The Canton Fair will open tomorrow, with a large number of new business forms emerging.
At the 136th Canton Fair, a large number of new companies, products, technologies, and business forms will emerge.
Among them, nearly 4,600 new companies will participate. There are more than 8,000 companies with titles such as National High-tech, Specialized and Special New Giants, and Manufacturing Single Champions, an increase of over 40% compared to the previous session. Companies related to the "new three", digital technology, and intelligent manufacturing topics are about 3,600, and companies with independent brands reach more than 14,000.
At the same time, the Canton Fair will also showcase 1.15 million new products, 1.04 million green products, and 1.11 million products with independent intellectual property rights, all of which have significantly increased compared to the previous session.
In terms of business promotion, as of October 9th, 125,000 overseas buyers have pre-registered. Among them, countries participating in the "Belt and Road" initiative account for 75.7%, BRICS countries account for 20%, OECD member countries account for 17.7%, RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) member countries account for 16.4%, Middle Eastern countries account for 13.4%, and European and American countries account for 12.5%.
It is reported that pre-registered overseas buyers come from 203 countries and regions, with the pre-registration numbers of overseas buyers in industries such as electronics and home appliances, machinery, textiles and clothing, daily consumer goods, and building materials ranking at the forefront.For the Canton Fair, "major clients" are extremely important. The latest data as of October 10th shows that 223 of the world's top 250 retailers and major merchants from various countries and regions have confirmed their participation in the event, marking a 24% increase compared to the same period of the previous session, with an expected record of over 300 major merchants attending for the first time. Leading companies that have registered and confirmed their attendance include Walmart and DG from the United States, Auchan and Carrefour from France, Tesco and Kingfisher from the United Kingdom, Metro and Rewe from Germany, Daiso and Nitori from Japan, Lulu from the United Arab Emirates, Arzum from Turkey, The Warehouse from New Zealand, and Havaianas from Brazil. Among them, Walmart from the United States has a delegation of over 100 people, and Nitori from Japan has a delegation of over 300 people.
Multiple measures have been taken to facilitate and streamline the process for foreign merchants to attend the Canton Fair in China.
It is understood that to make it more convenient and efficient for foreign merchants to attend the 136th Canton Fair in China, relevant departments have taken measures.
In terms of simplifying the documentation process, the relevant departments have further streamlined the visa application materials. Merchants from various countries attending the Canton Fair can apply for an invitation letter online through the official website of the Canton Fair. With this invitation letter, they can apply for a visa to attend the event at any Chinese embassy or consulate abroad.
Regarding the acceleration of the visa application process, on the basis of completely canceling visa appointments, Chinese embassies and consulates abroad have further expanded the scope of fingerprint exemption. Starting from September 2nd, all applicants for short-term visas with one or two entries and a stay of up to 180 days are exempt from fingerprint collection. With the exemption from appointments and fingerprint collection, foreign nationals can apply for a visa to China on a "walk-in" basis and can achieve "no need to run". Under normal circumstances, the visa can be issued within 4 working days.
In expanding the scope of visa-free entry, since last year, China has successively implemented visa-free entry policies for 15 countries including France, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand. Starting from October 15th, China will also implement a visa-free policy for Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, and Slovenia. Citizens of the aforementioned countries holding ordinary passports who come to China for business, tourism, visiting relatives and friends, or transit for no more than 15 days can enter China visa-free.
So far, China has concluded visa exemption agreements covering different types of passports with 157 countries and has achieved comprehensive visa exemption with 24 countries. "Recently, we have also reached agreements with countries such as Brazil and Australia to issue multiple-entry visas valid for ten years and five years. We welcome foreign merchants to fully utilize the above visa-free and multi-year, multiple-entry visa conveniences to attend the Canton Fair in China and engage in various business activities," said Tong Xuejun, Deputy Director of the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.