The 137th China Import and Export Fair, or the Canton Fair, put up a matchmaking event on Saturday, providing a platform for Chinese foreign trade companies to expand domestic sales channels against the U.S. tariff hikes.
The event, focusing on food and other consumer goods, attracted over 100 companies and domestic e-commerce platforms.
"Some seven large domestic e-commerce platforms and retail supermarket platforms have already come to communicate with us. They have opened special channels for foreign trade enterprises to settle in. After the review, we can directly list our products on their platforms or sell them in their supermarkets," said Wang Yu, an exhibitor.
Many foreign trade companies are also adjusting their existing products to better appeal to the domestic market.
Government departments and industry chambers are also supporting the foreign trade companies to tap into domestic sales channels with more diversified sales scenarios for different types of products.
"We will introduce the high-quality export-oriented products to e-commerce platforms, supermarkets, exhibitions and local communities," said Cao Derong, president of the China Chamber of Commerce of Import and Export of Foodstuffs, Native Produce and Animal By-Products.
Canton Fair holds business matchmaking event
Canton Fair holds business matchmaking event
The World Bank predicted Tuesday that energy prices may surge 24 percent in 2026 to their highest level since the Russia-Ukraine conflict erupted in 2022 due to the war in the Middle East, while overall commodity prices are projected to increase 16 percent.
In its latest Commodity Markets Outlook released on Tuesday, the World Bank said that attacks on energy infrastructure and shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, which handles about 35 percent of global seaborne crude oil trade, have triggered the largest oil supply shock on record, with an initial reduction in global oil supply of about 10 million barrels per day.
Fertilizer prices are projected to increase by 31 percent in 2026, driven by a 60-percent jump in urea prices, while prices for base metals, including aluminum, copper and tin, are expected to reach all-time highs.
Precious metals prices are forecast to increase 42 percent as geopolitical uncertainty fuels demand for safe-haven assets.
Commodity prices could rise even higher if hostilities escalate or supply disruptions from the Iran war last longer than projected, the report said.
Indermit Gill, the World Bank Group's chief economist and senior vice president for Development Economics, said the war is hitting the global economy in cumulative waves, warning that poorer populations will be hardest hit.
World Bank forecasts 24-pct surge in energy prices in 2026
World Bank forecasts 24-pct surge in energy prices in 2026
