The 139th China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair), China's longest-running comprehensive international trade event held biannually in Guangzhou, has dedicated zones for commercial and agricultural drones for the first time, generating a new highlight of the event.
With live drone flight demonstrations conducted in the exhibition airspace, and new intelligent low-altitude products presented, merchants have been streaming in for consultations and negotiations in the drone zones of the exhibition halls since the Canton Fair opened on Wednesday.
One tethered lighting drone able to provide extended illumination in harsh electromagnetic environments while achieving a lightweight body design has caught attention of many visitors.
"We manufactured this product last December. After its release, we obtained verification certificates from 17 countries in January and February this year," exhibitor Zhang Kai said of the product.
Another star product is a high-altitude cleaning drone utilizing dual-nozzle automatic switching technology to achieve full-process automation from foam application to high-pressure rinsing, significantly improving cleansing operation efficiency. Its developer says the product is experiencing explosive growth in the European market, which has strict safety regulations, and the South American market, which has massive demand for photovoltaic cleaning.
"Drone cleaning can achieve 80 percent to 90 percent cleanliness on photovoltaic glass, even exceeding 90 percent. Compared with last year, our order volume has increased by 85 percent," said Hu Lulu, an exhibitor.
The agricultural drone exhibition area has been equally bustling. Drones with 30-liter, 50-liter or even bigger spraying water tanks plus obstacle avoidance and terrain-following radars are selling well across countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa.
"We kind of think agri-drones, because this is an innovation technology. In Georgia, it's a very selling product," said a Georgian buyer.
"We are developing, so we want more—the manual way of doing stuff is not working anymore," said an African buyer.
Canton Fair's drone zones also reflect a growing trend of Chinese companies shifting from just hardware sales to providing systematic solutions combining hardware, software and service.
Canton Fair debuts drone zones, drawing global buyers
Canton Fair debuts drone zones, drawing global buyers
