Many Chinese exhibitors at the ongoing Canton Fair have built overseas business networks to bolster partnerships they build with international businesses during the event.
Officially known as the 139th China Import and Export Fair, the event is held in three phases from April 15 to May 5, 2026 in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou. The first phase this week has drawn a record number of over 32,000 participating companies.
Survey results show that nearly 20 percent of the Chinese exhibitors have invested overseas, creating more than 200,000 local jobs.
At the tools section of the fair, a wide range of smart power tools have attracted flocks of domestic and international buyers.
Wang Huaiwei, a Chinese exhibitor, said his company has established overseas production bases, which have effectively boosted the company's resilience against risks, providing strong support for maintaining stable relationships with customers abroad and expanding presence in overseas markets.
"We mainly focus on global arrangements to shorten supply time and reduce logistics costs. We have a factory in Vietnam, and we are also selecting locations in Mexico and Romania. This allows us to shorten response time for customers, cut logistics costs by about 40 percent, and improve efficiency. Particularly, we can reduce the delivery time significantly. This makes our business very steady. We won't be affected by market fluctuations during our brand globalization," Wang said.
Unlike in the past, buyers no longer focus solely on prices. Instead, they are looking for comprehensive cooperation and one-stop services covering product customization, overseas delivery, and after-sales support, exhibitors said.
"We have built stronger partnerships with our customers in terms of the overall process from receiving their orders to delivery and follow-up services. It has also solidified foundations for our operations in overseas markets by providing integrated services for our customers, thus greatly improving their satisfaction. In view of our business performance in recent years, our market share has been steadily growing, which is the benefit of our overseas investment," said Jiang Zhijia, another Chinese exhibitor.
At the electronic and electrical products section, exhibitor Sun Guo's electric rideable suitcases have caught the eyes of many buyers.
Sun's company has prepared tailored products and service packages to meet the specific needs of customers from different regions, which has led to the on-site inking of many letters of intent.
"At the Canton Fair, we would show buyers from different regions our after-sales service points we have set up in their areas. This provides solid after-sales support for both our agents and consumers and has boosted the sales of our products," Sun said.
"China everything, it's taking the market now. And it's getting so popular. The Chinese suppliers, they open the factory in my country, so that the logistics will be very easier. I prefer all of it. I prefer this way," said Abbas, an Iraqi buyer.
Chinese exporters seek to explore global market through overseas deployments
