Export transactions at the just concluded 137th China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, rose by 3 percent year on year to reach 25.44 billion U.S. dollars, driven largely by strong participation from Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partner countries, according to the event's organizers.
The latest edition of the fair, which concluded on Monday in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, spanned 1.55 million square meters, featured around 74,000 booths, and hosted about 31,000 exhibiting companies.
Despite a drop in attendance from U.S. buyers due to tariff-related uncertainties, overall international participation saw a notable surge. As of May 4, the event had drawn over 280,000 overseas buyers from 219 countries and regions, a 17.3-percent increase from the same period last year. Business negotiations remained active throughout the event, reflecting sustained global demand for Chinese goods.
According to the China Foreign Trade Centre, which organizes the fair, emerging markets remain the largest source of buyers. Attendees from BRI countries reached 187,500, marking a 17.4-percent increase and accounting for 64.9 percent of total foreign purchasers.
Buyers from BRICS nations totaled 72,400, a 24.1 percent year-on-year rise, while member countries of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) contributed 64,800 buyers, up 6.9 percent.
First held in 1957, the Canton Fair is China's longest-running international trade event, held twice a year in Guangzhou. It is often seen as a barometer of the country's foreign trade performance.
Export transactions climb at 137th Canton Fair despite US tariff pressures
Political observers from across the Taiwan Strait have applauded the policy measures newly unveiled by the Chinese central government to boost exchanges and cooperation between the mainland and the island region.
The central government on April 12 rolled out 10 policies and measures -- spanning inter-party communication, infrastructure, travel, trade and culture -- aimed at boosting cross-Strait exchanges and cooperation.
The announcement by the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee followed a meeting between Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, and Cheng Li-wun, chairwoman of the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) party, the first such top-level meeting between the two political parties across the Taiwan Strait in a decade.
Atop the 10 initiatives announced by the mainland is a proposal to explore a regular communication mechanism between the CPC and the KMT.
In addition to exploring the establishment of a regularized communication mechanism between the CPC and the KMT, more of these policy measures concern specific issues related to people's livelihood, precisely addressing the actual needs of various sectors in Taiwan, especially grassroots communities, youth, and small and medium-sized enterprises.
"For example, the catches of Taiwan's deepsea fishing vessels can be shipped directly to the mainland, and Taiwan's agricultural products can also enter the mainland market, which are both cases of expanded integrated development. In addition, Kinmen and Matsu can be connected with the coastal areas of Fujian Province in terms of access to water, electricity and gas supply, and construction of cross-sea bridges. There are also plans for Xiamen's Xiang'an airport to be jointly used with Kinmen. All these are concrete steps that further deepen integrated development," said Wu Yongping, dean of the Institute for Taiwan Studies at Tsinghua University.
Among the 10 policy measures is one for resuming individual travel to Taiwan for residents of Shanghai and Fujian. Taiwanese tourism and business operators believe that compared to approving group tours earlier, the mainland's willingness to directly promote the resumption of individual travel pilot programs sends a stronger signal of openness and demonstrates greater goodwill.
Recent data indicate increasing cross-Strait exchanges. In the first quarter of this year, applications for travel passes for Taiwan residents to enter or leave the mainland rose by 11.8 percent year on year, while visits by Taiwan residents to the mainland increased by 27.6 percent. First-time applicants -- many under the age of 45 -- have also grown in number.
"The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has gone too far in manipulating its so-called 'anti-China,' 'resentment toward China,' and 'resistance to China" tricks, which has backfired. More and more young people feel that there's no need to deliberately 'demonize' the mainland -- they want to see for themselves what the mainland is really like. Over the past couple of years, we've seen many people go to the mainland and use various forms of audio-visual media to share the truth about the mainland's progress with more Taiwan people around them," said Wang Bing-chung, a political commentator in Taiwan.
"Many of these individuals are Taiwan youth who previously supported the DPP. Because they were deceived in the past, they now carry a strong sense of anger and feel compelled to take personal action to debunk the lies they were fed. Under these circumstances, I believe it is an inevitable historical trend for compatriots on both sides of the strait to grow closer," he said.
Political observers across Taiwan Strait laud central gov't policies on boosting ties
