US and China Still Very Much in Business as Canton Fair Hosts Promotional Event in New York

On the heels of the largest Canton Fair in history, representatives from the long-running trade show were at a packed room in New York to drum up more support from American buyers and visitors.

American buyers have been a significant force at the Fair throughout its history, but despite the focus on trade tensions between the world’s first and second largest economies, the Canton Fair continues connecting American buyers with China’s vast supply chain network. Hosted in Guangzhou, this supply chain is largely condensed into one location over a couple weeks at the Canton Fair showcase.

Hosted twice a year, the Canton Fair just concluded its 135th session in early May, receiving 246,000 international buyers, marking a new record of onsite buyer attendance. Over 10,000 of these buyers each year are from the US. 247 companies from the US were also exhibitors at the latest Canton Fair.

Now running since 1957 and often seen as a barometer of the economic relationship between China and the US, the Canton Fair is the premier event to get a glimpse at the technology, production, and industry coming out of China, but it also puts great effort into facilitating deals. The recently concluded session saw $24.7 billion in export transactions at the event along with $3.03 billion from its online platform.

Helping lay the groundwork for even more US buyers to attend the upcoming 136th session in October, Canton Fair trade representatives and the Chinese Consul General Huang Ping were in the heart of New York to promote the unique opportunities the fair provides to US businesses.

Attendees at the Canton Fair Promotion Conference in New York, May 22, 2024. (Source: China Foreign Trade Centre Group)

One long-time Canton Fair attendee at the New York event, Kevin Kuehl from Big Lots noted how crucial the fair is to their global sourcing. After just concluding his 11th trip to the fair this year he noted how it “provides the opportunity to meet potential factories in such an effective and efficient manner.”

Abraham Merchant, A recent first-time attendee from the restaurant business also noted how his primary purpose of attending the canton fair is to source top quality prices for his chain of restaurants in the US. While another trade association representative from Ohio noted that instead of going through intermediaries, “the connections at Canton Fair allow you to source what you need on your own.”

Chu Shijia, Chairman of the Board and President of China Foreign Trade Centre Group speaking at the New York event. (Source: China Foreign Trade Centre Group)

Chu Shijia, Chairman of the Board and President of the China Foreign Trade Centre Group, an organization involved in hosting the Canton Fair, discussed plans for the Fair to continue expanding its influence to help more businesses grow and prosper in all corners of the world.

With nearly 30,000 exhibitors, it’s hard to imagine how the Canton Fair can get any bigger, but it continues to seek more attendees, exhibitors and deals to facilitate. As one attendee at the New York event noted, “I spent a full day and 35,000 steps and I still didn’t see half of it.”