Innovative products with green and low-carbon concepts have attracted numerous buyers at the ongoing 137th China Import and Export Fair, or the Canton Fair, in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province. At the exhibition, a ceramic company in Guangdong launched a foam tile product. The tile is based on solid waste recycling technology and can be recycled, which attracted the attention of many buyers.
"The raw materials used in the product are mostly industrial solid waste. During the processing, some waste residues, scraps and leftovers can be broken up and reused," said exhibitor You Minmin with the Guangzhou Jinyitao Ceramics Group Co., Ltd.
According to organizers, 56 percent of the exhibitors at the fair have patents such as appearance design and invention in the field of green and low-carbon, and more than 60 percent of the enterprises have passed domestic and foreign green and low-carbon certification, and the number of green and low-carbon products on display reached 880,000.
"We have also introduced some advanced methods in [exhibition] materials. It is more environmentally friendly, more advanced materials, and can be recycled," said exhibitor Huang Yu. In addition to green and low-carbon products, related concepts have also been incorporated into the exhibition process.
"We have integrated the concepts of ecological priority and green development throughout the expo, and steadily promoted the green booth penetration rate to reach 100 percent," said Zhang Yanyan, deputy general manager of general management department of China Foreign Trade Center Group Co., Ltd.
Innovative products with green concept shine at Canton Fair
China's two major power grid operators -- the State Grid Corporation of China (State Grid) and China Southern Power Grid (CSG) -- reported a surge in investment in the first quarter of 2026, underscoring efforts to strengthen infrastructure construction and support high-quality socioeconomic development in China.
The State Grid said it completed fixed-asset investment worth 129 billion yuan (about 18.77 billion U.S. dollars) in the first three months of this year, up 37 percent the corresponding period of the previous year. The spending has driven more than 250 billion yuan (36 billion U.S. dollars) of investment across the wider industrial chain.
Key projects such as the Panxi ultra-high-voltage (UHV) alternating current (AC) line and the Anhui-Hubei back-to-back direct current (DC) project have seen ground broken for their construction, while several west-to-east power transmission projects have been upgraded.
Investment in connecting renewable energy generation to the grid was reported to have exceeded 10 billion yuan (1.45 billion U.S. dollars) from January to March, a year-on-year rise of more than 50 percent.
The CSG also reported robust growth in investment in the three-month period, with fixed-asset investment reaching 38.45 billion yuan (5.58 billion U.S. dollars), up about 50 percent from a year earlier.
Among its achievements, the company completed and commissioned 80 key projects, including the 220 kV cross-sea power grid interconnection project, which was officially put into operation on March 20. The project ended years of grid isolation on the Weizhou Island in south China by linking it to the main power system of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
The construction of 17 other major energy projects, including one linking the power grid of the Xizang Autonomous Region in southwest China with that of Guangdong Province in south China, is advancing rapidly. These projects are expected to bolster regional industries, the maritime economy, digital collaboration and the transition to green energy.
"By accelerating major project construction, investment during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030) is expected to approach 1 trillion yuan (145 billion U.S. dollars), driving a further 2 trillion yuan (290 billion U.S. dollars) of investment across upstream and downstream industries," said Dong Yanle, deputy general manager of the Engineering Construction Department under the China Southern Power Grid.
China ramps up power grid investment in January-March to boost growth
