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Canton Fair 1
Canton Fair 2

Area B

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Canton Fair 3

Area C

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Canton Fair 4

Area A

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Canton Fair

The China Import and Export Fair also known Canton Fair is the largest biannual China trade fairs, canton trade fairs, China trade shows of any kind and held in Guangzhou (Pazhou Complex). The fair began in 1953 and now held in April 15 and will run until May & October 15 and will run until Nov.

Canton Fair Dates Fall 
Phase 1 : October 15-19 : Building & Contruction, Automotive and Parts, Hardware & Tools
Phase 2 : October 23-27 : Consumer goods, Gifts, Home Decorations
Phase 3 : October 31-November 4: Office Supplies, Sporting & Outdoors

Canton Fair Dates Spring 
Phase 1 : April 15-19 : Building & Contruction, Automotive and Parts, Hardware & Tools
Phase 2 : April 23-27 : Consumer goods, Gifts, Home Decorations
Phase 3 : May 1-5: Office Supplies, Sporting & Outdoors

Phase 1

  • Electronics & Household Appliances
  • Lighting Equipment
  • Vehicles and Spare Parts
  • Machinery
  • Hardware & Tools
  • Building Materials
  • Chemical Products
  • Energy Resources
  • International Pavillion

Phase 2

  • Consumer Goods
  • Gifts
  • Home Decorations

Phase 3

  • Textile & Garments
  • Shoes
  • Office Supplies, Cases & Bags & Recreational Products
  • Medecines, Medical Devices & Health Products
  • Food
  • International Pavillion

Who Should Visit the Canton Fair

First time business visitor to China: Best place to understand the Chinese market in nutshell.
Finding Suppliers, or meeting current Suppliers
importing mass-market consumer commodities.
Best place to find all major factories of China under one roof.

Who Shouldn’t Visit the Canton Fair

If your product is not in the above catergory, you must visit indutrial specific fair find the list here
Scale of your Business; Canton fair average order size are more than 10,000 USD (However, you can plan a visit to explore new idea, The Canton Fair has something for everyone.)
If you are lazy, Naah I am kidding. Its also advised to not only focus on Canton fair as only Large factories can effort this fair. Small Hidden Gem can be found in Industrial specific Fairs.

Why is visiting trade shows in China so valuable?

Visiting trade shows will help you find Suppliers not advertising on the internet,
you can meet the supplier in person and builds rapport and shows you’re a serious buyer.
Canton Fair is the largest trade show in the world with the longest history.

How to Get to the Canton Fair and Where to Stay

Taxi
Guangzhou Baiyun Airport enjoys a great transportation network. It takes only 20 minutes to drive along the Airport Express Way from downtown to the Airport.Taxi is the most convenient, and yet more expensive, way to go to the airport.

Metro
To reach Area A of Canton Fair Complex, get out from Exit A of Xingang Dong Station. To reach Area B, get out from Exit A of Pazhou Station; and to Area C, Exit C of Pazhou Station.
Route:Jichang Nan Station —Xinguang Dong/Pazhou Station

Airport shuttle bus
From Canton Fair Complex to the Baiyun Airport
Guangzhou Airport Express offers special direct shuttle bus service between Canton Fair Complex and Guangzhou Baiyun Airport in all 3 Phases of Canton Fair.
Phase 1 (Apr./Oct. 15~19), Phase 2 (Apr./Oct. 23~27), and Phase 3 (May 1~5/Oct.31~Nov.4 ) .
Pickup zone:Lane 1, Complex Mid. Road, Area A, Canton Fair Complex;
Service time: 13:00-18:00;
Bus departure: about every 30 minutes.
Duaration:the whole journey will take about 50 minutes

Accomodation
There are huge number of Hotels giving you Free Pick up and Drop Services to the Fair Complex. 

How Much Does It Cost To Attend The Canton Fair And Is It Worth Going?

Top Secret Attending Canton Fair is Free, provided you apply for invitation in advance, you only need to pay your Air fare and Hotel Stay. However, Hotels and Flights are higher some times 3 times higher than any usual dates. Total Spending will not be more than USD 2K~2.5K

But is it worth going?

Ofcourse Yes, Let us work on ROI:

Assuming an average Buyer would visit 10 factories at least during his trip. So total cost of travelling those 10 factories for lets say 5 day travel would cost you about $ 1000 + Hotel Stay 6 days approximately $ 600 + you Flight Cost $ 1000. Hence the total spending is almost same and here you will be able to meet more than 50 to 100 relevant suppliers under one roof. Ofcourse if you like the supplier you can also plan a factory visit. However, Evaluation Becomes much easier.

Where Is The Canton Fair?

Canton Fair Complex: No. 380, Yuejiang Zhong Road, Guangzhou, China The Canton Fair is located in Haizhu District.

 
Map

What is the Right Questions you must ask? is it Price?

Firstly, be prepared with 

  • Design drawings
  • Material specification
  • Bill of materials

Suppliers may not be able to send more time so what should be the right questions?

  • Can they make my quality
  • What is the MOQ
  • What is the product sample and tooling cost (if any)?
  • Estimate Delivery time
  • Most Importantly, Are you a factory or trading company?
  • Can we visit your factory?
  • Do you have any buyer references in my country?
  • Do you have any test reports valid in my country?
  • Do you have any other factory audit reports?

A Tour Of The Canton Fair

Canton Fair 5

Canton Fair in 1957

Then
Canton Fair 6

Canton Fair

Fair Ground These days
Canton Fair 7

Canton Fair

Passage

Things to Consider before you pack your bags

Visas

Before getting your visa you will need to register for a badge and apply for an invitation letter – you need the letter and flight details in order to get the visa processed. I will warn you now, the website is not great and can be extremely confusing to novice users.

First go to the Buyer E-Service Tool then click English at the top right to change the language. This is where you apply for an invitation letter. Make sure you have some recent passport photos with a white background as you will need them for your buyer badge and visa application.

We work with few preferred Travel agent in India for our clients to process their chinese Visa. It costs us USD 100~120 for Single Entry in India. Documents required are 

Accommodation

Booking throught Ctrip.com or Elong.net both have english version website and Ctrip also has an english App for convenience. Airbnb also works in China try to choose a accommodation near metro station so you can easily commute as traffic during peak hours in Guangzhou is really bad.

Phone apps

VPN
Baidu Transalator 
Guangzhou Metro Map
WeChat (the Chinese equivalent to WhatsApp)
DIDI (the Chinese equivalent to Uber)

Business cards

You might Need plenty, I would say you consider carry 2 different sets of card. We have found many salespeople hang around outside fair complex and are paid a commission for every business card they collect be ready for a large size inbox.

Money

For Foriegn Buyer its always better to rely on Cash. Getting you USD is fairly easy to exchange in major banks and business areas. Local’s these days use Alipay or wechatpay to make as small as 10 cents purchases. However in China Cash is King, dont expect all will be able to accept your Credit Card, You may find this less of an issue if you are staying in one of the major hotels.

Beware of Taxi scams, they would exchange your real once with fake once complaining about the currency you handed over.

SIM cards

Available in all major airport they just need to scan your passport. Sim cards are available for RMB 180 to 250 depends on plan (USD 30 to 40)

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