Advanced manufacturing and a wave of smart exhibits are dominating the limelight, as the 139th China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, opened its first phase in Guangzhou, the provincial capital of south China's Guangdong, on Wednesday.
This edition of the biannual Canton Fair goes beyond traditional categories such as electronics and home appliances, and adds four new sections dedicated to consumer drones, smart wearables, display technologies and agricultural drones.
Emergency-use lighting drones and autonomous cleaning drones have drawn strong interest from buyers and media, while the smart wearables zone has featured products ranging from smart rings to multifunctional AI goggles.
Leading firms in sections of display technology and agricultural drones are also demonstrating how smart solutions are reshaping people's everyday life and modern farming.
More than 11,000 enterprises, rated as "champions of specialized and sophisticated technology applications for producing novel and unique products," are taking part in this edition of the Canton Fair, with over half of them registered for the first phase.
Exhibitors are also adopting creative ways to engage buyers, from drone delivery of coffee and other drinks to roaming of robots on aisles for direct interaction, which underscores how AI and smart technology are finding practical applications in business.
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.
The first phase of the 139th edition of the Canton Fair is scheduled to run from April 15 to 19.
Smart products steal limelight at Canton Fair
Colombians are heading to the polls on Sunday to elect their next president. The country's constitution prevents the current President, Gustavo Petro, from running for a second term.
Yet, many see this election as a referendum on the policies of Gustavo Petro, Colombia's first leftist president.
There are 14 candidates on Sunday's ballot, but the polls show it will likely be a tight three-way race.
The frontrunner is Ivan Cepeda, a 63-year-old three-term senator, representing President Gustavo Petro's party, the Historic Pact coalition. Cepeda has vowed to defend and deepen Petro's progressive reforms and social justice policies to reduce inequality. He also promises to continue the government's controversial "Total Peace" strategy to negotiate the disarmament of remaining guerrilla groups and criminal gangs.
"True prosperity comes from equality, from access to rights, and from transforming the peripheral and excluded territories of the rural world," Cepeda said at a campaign rally.
Running as a political outsider and independent is Abelardo de la Espriella, a 47-year-old lawyer, nicknamed "The Tiger." He has presented himself as the "authority and order" candidate who will reduce state spending by up to 40 percent in the next four years.
"(First,) we must fight insecurity. Colombia is suffering today from a pandemic of insecurity. Crime is out of control: extortion, cattle theft, smuggling, drug trafficking," he said to his supporters at an election event.
According to polls, the third candidate with strong support is Paloma Valencia. The 48-year-old senator represents the Democratic Center party led by popular former President Alvaro Uribe Velez. Her candidacy is backed by politicians and economists who are concerned with growing levels of public debt. They want to see a return to more conservative fiscal policies.
"I don't want to be a president who governs alone, locked away in glass offices. I want to be a president who stands with citizens, who embraces them, who reaches out to them, who has a team, and who governs to transform Colombia," the candidate said at the campaign event
According to polls earlier in the year, many voters are expressing concerns about unemployment, rising living costs, corruption, and, above all, public security.
The election comes after a turbulent year that the International Committee of the Red Cross has called "the worst humanitarian consequences of armed conflict over the past decade."
"(We arrive at this election in a tense atmosphere - tense) because of the economic situation, because of the security situation, and because of the narratives that have been built around the country's main problems. On top of that, emotions, ideas and social media have all helped raise (the tone,)" said Eduardo Velosa, associate professor from International Studies Javeriana University.
If no candidate receives 50 percent of the vote, a runoff election will be held between the top two finishers on June 21st.
Colombians prepare to choose their next president
