Home decorations, Christmas ornaments, and other festival products are on display at Canton Fair, China's oldest and largest trade fair in Guangzhou, capital city of south China's Guangdong Province, as it entered the second phase.
In late April, the entire exhibition hall at the Fair, is dedicated to holiday ornaments and Christmas decorations.
China has been a major exporter of these products for Christmas, and other holidays.
In the first quarter of 2024, China's exports rose 4.9 percent year on year. For domestic holiday suppliers at the Canton Fair, this upward trend is reflected in recent sales.
"In the second phase, we're focusing on holiday gifts, trees, and plant products, including artificial flowers and trees. Just in the past two days, we've received a customer flow between 500 and 600. So, the numbers are really good, as is the quality of our clients," said Li Rui, sales manager of Longstar, a Chinese supplier of household products.
Although Halloween and Christmas are more than half a year away, the fair is crucial for many of these time-sensitive products hitting the shelves on time.
Establishing business relationships and closing deals this early, is nothing peculiar for companies here.
"Our products sell mostly to the western countries. We sell directly to the retailers in the US and Europe. We've been in this industry for more than twenty years. Because we have enlarged our production lines, we have more capacity, for the Christmas balls we can get more customers for the next year. So, I would like to say Canton Fair is very important to our company, because 80 percent of the customers are from Canton Fair," said Huang Jun, sales director of Eagle Gifts, an exporter of Christmas merchandise in China.
"The U.S. market is definitely the largest for these kind of products. Our company has done most of the business in both Europe and the U.S. So far, 40 percent of our sales come from Europe, and the remaining 60 percent from the U.S.," said Li Rui from Longstar.
The second phase of the Canton Fair which features household items, gifts and decorations, building materials and furniture, started on Tuesday and will close on Saturday. The biannual Fair that was launched in 1957 plays a vital role in expanding China's high-level opening up and promoting the building of an open world economy.
Phase two of Canton Fair sees brisk demand for holiday products
Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Hungary from Wednesday to Friday concluded with the elevation of bilateral relations to a new level.
The two countries decided Thursday to elevate bilateral relations to an all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for the new era.
The decision was announced during the talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan arrived in Budapest on Wednesday and were warmly welcomed by Prime Minister Orban and his wife Aniko Levai.
At the airport, Xi received a bouquet from Olah Tamara, a university student who had also presented flowers to Xi, then Chinese vice president, 15 years ago during his official visit to Hungary .
People from all walks of life lined the street to welcome Xi in Budapest, waving national flags of both countries.
On Thursday, Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok, together with Prime Minister Orban, held a welcome ceremony for Xi at the Buda Castle.
After the ceremony, Xi held talks with Sulyok and Orban respectively.
Xi expressed his readiness to work with Sulyok to carry forward the traditional friendship, deepen political mutual trust, strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation, and steer the China-Hungary relationship to higher levels when holding talks with the Hungarian President.
The bilateral relationship has stood the test of the changing international landscape and continued to grow in depth from a friendship across the continent, to a friendly and cooperative partnership and then to a comprehensive strategic partnership, Xi said.
During the talks with Orban, Xi said that China and Hungary set a good example for fostering a new type of international relations with their comprehensive strategic partnership maintaining high-level development, characterized by deepening political trust, and fruitful cooperation across diverse fields.
"I got to know Mr. Prime Minister in 2009, and now 15 years later, we are old friends," Xi said in his talks with Orban.
After the talks, Xi and Orban jointly met the press and witnessed the exchange of 18 cooperation documents, covering areas such as trade, agriculture and green development.
Xi attended a welcome banquet hosted by Orban on Thursday night.
"Standing at the new historical starting point of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Hungary, Prime Minister Orban and I have decided to elevate the bilateral relations to an all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for the new era and open a new chapter in our exchanges and cooperation," Xi said at the banquet.
Orban held a farewell event for Xi around noon on Friday, and then together with Levai saw off Xi and Peng at the airport.
Xi's visit to Hungary concludes with elevation of bilateral ties
