Preparations underway for the 133rd Canton Fair in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, which opens on Friday. [PARKER ZHENG/CHINA DAILY]

Trade expo spreads over 1.5 million sq m, houses some 35,000 exhibitors

The 133rd China Import and Export Fair, the country's largest trade event that is scheduled to open with a grand ceremony on Friday, will see vendors and buyers from across the globe. The fair is expected to contribute significantly to the recovery and growth of the Chinese economy as well as the global economy, experts and industry insiders said.

Running through May 5, the event, also known as the Canton Fair, will resume all on-site activities in Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong province, after being held largely online since 2020 due to COVID-19 response measures, said Xu Bing, spokesman of the fair, adding that online services will also be in place on a sustained basis.

Xu said that to date, buyers from 226 countries and regions in both developed and emerging markets have registered for both offline and online exhibitions.

And 53 leading multinationals, including US firm Walmart, French retailer Auchan, German discounter Lidl and Abu Dhabi-headquartered supermarket chain Lulu, have confirmed they will attend the fair, Xu said.

Xu Hongcai, deputy director of the China Association of Policy Science's Economic Policy Commission in Beijing, said the Canton Fair is well positioned to serve as an accurate matchmaking platform for suppliers and buyers across sectors, and this can help boost global trade in goods.

The Canton Fair also helps Chinese companies to further explore international markets and beef up the country's foreign trade. The economic recovery and growth of China, a reliable partner on both supply and demand sides, will in turn facilitate a quicker global revival, he said.

According to the latest analysis of the International Monetary Fund, China is projected to give a significant boost to the world economy, accounting for about a third of global growth this year.

Xu, the fair's spokesman, said this year's event has achieved the largest scale since its history began in 1957, in terms of both the venue acreage and the number of global participants.

Xu said the exhibition area will be expanded from 1.18 million square meters to 1.5 million sq m this year to house nearly 70,000 booths for import and export companies.