China's AI development achievements catch spotlight at Canton Fair

The ongoing 137th edition of the China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, has fascinated visitors with the latest achievements of China's artificial intelligence development efforts.

The fair kicked off on Tuesday in Guangzhou City of south China's Guangdong Province, with the number of export exhibitors exceeding 30,000 for the first time in the history of this event.

The first phase of the Canton Fair, held from April 15 to 19, focuses on advanced manufacturing and for the first time added a special zone for service robots.

Many overseas buyers at the service robots zone use their mobile phones to capture images of robotic dogs, industrial exoskeleton equipment, automatic cruise robots, coffee-making robots and other products, while asking exhibitors for more details about their functions.

"I am very impressed by China's achievements in AI. This is my first time visiting the Canton Fair, and the innovations I have seen in AI are incredible. What China has achieved has broken down communication barriers not only within the country, but also for the whole world," said a Russian buyer.

"It is amazing. Everything looks very, very cutting-edge, like, wow. I look [have seen] many, many applications in the future for the Chinese technology here so I would do business with them," said a Swedish buyer.

Many overseas buyers are shifting their product selection priorities from a focus on the price-performance ratio to a technology-oriented approach. For numerous international customers, high technology and intelligence have become a key factors in their purchasing decisions.

"I am particularly looking for the house cleaning robots, and we found some very, very good products. [Smart products] are getting more popular now. I've been coming to China for about 10 years. I saw the difference every year getting higher and higher and better and better products," said a Brazilian buyer.

The fair also includes an industry trend forum focused on AI plus consumer electronics, bringing together domestic AI experts, analysts, representatives from industry organizations and research institutions, and corporate representatives to explore the deep integration of AI technology with the consumer electronics sector.

"We see huge business opportunities existing abroad. As an emerging company, we also hope to take the Canton Fair as a platform to assess the overseas market. We have already received numerous inquiries and business contacts from various countries," said Tian Gang, a Chinese exhibitor.

Established in 1957, the Canton Fair is held twice a year in Guangzhou. It is the longest-running of several comprehensive international trade events in China and has been hailed as the barometer of China's foreign trade.

China's AI development achievements catch spotlight at Canton Fair

China's AI development achievements catch spotlight at Canton Fair

China will strengthen fiscal and financial coordination to amplify policy effectiveness, experts said as the draft central and local budgets for 2026 were unveiled on Friday at the ongoing fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress.

According to the draft central and local budgets for 2026, 1.3 trillion yuan (190 billion U.S. dollars) of ultra-long special treasury bonds will be issued to provide continued support for the implementation of major national strategies and security capacity-building in key areas and for large-scale equipment upgrades and consumer goods trade-in programs.

Ultra-long special treasury bonds totaling 800 billion yuan will be allocated to support the implementation of major national strategies and security capacity-building in key areas, and 250 billion yuan in ultra-long special treasury bonds will be earmarked for consumer goods trade-in programs.

The country will refine these programs in terms of their scope and subsidy standards, and continue to support the scrapping and replacement of automobiles, home appliance trade-in schemes, and purchases of new digital and smart products.

China will also set up a 100-billion-yuan fiscal-financial coordination fund to boost domestic demand. The fund will support consumption and private investment through loan interest subsidies, financing guarantee, and risk compensation.

"Fiscal and monetary policies are the two major macroeconomic tools for macro-control, and their coordination is crucial. For instance, fiscal funds primarily serve as a guiding role, while financial institutions provide the capital. When fiscal guidance and financial resources are combined, the synergistic effect creates a result greater than the sum of its parts," said Yang Zhiyong, director of the Chinese Academy of Fiscal Sciences.

"By leveraging interest subsidies, we can mobilize substantial credit from financial institutions, thereby naturally stimulating consumption. The Ministry of Finance, in collaboration with the People's Bank of China, has introduced highly innovative measures, such as providing guarantees for the issuance of corporate bonds by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and compensating investors for losses. I believe the leveraging effect, making minimal efforts for maximum results, will become even more potent," said Yao Dongmin, director of the Center for China Fiscal Development under the Central University of Finance and Economics.

China's top legislature opened its annual session on Thursday morning at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other Party and state leaders attending the opening meeting alongside more than 2,700 NPC deputies. This year's NPC session is scheduled to run till March 12.

China to strengthen fiscal, financial coordination to amplify policy effectiveness: experts