Canton Fair holds MoU signing ceremony with eight global partners

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony was held at the ongoing 140th China Import and Export Fair, or Canton Fair, in Guangzhou City of south China's industrial powerhouse of Guangdong Province on Friday.

This year's MoU signing involved eight institutes, comprising six that have newly joined and two longtime partners, covering official ports, leading procurement enterprises and several key business associations.

"It was designed to formalize the relationship between the Canton Fair and the Port of Los Angeles. We are friends, we talk a lot, we introduce each other to other business partners. But this will tell the world that we have solid cooperation. That gives these two strong brands the capability of attracting new business, growing existing customers and trying to show the world that if you want to do business in international trade, the Canton Fair is the place to be," said Eugene Seroka, Executive Director of the Port of Los Angeles.

Luis, the representative of a leading Portuguese multinational retail group, has participated in the Canton Fair many times. The retail group's deep trust to the platform has given it the confidence in setting up new offices in the Greater Bay Area city cluster in south China.

In the future, the retail group plans to organize teams from the headquarters to take part in the event, so as to explore more business opportunities.

"We come to the Canton Fair for two reasons. One of them is we have an existing base of suppliers. So, it is a good opportunity to talk, to meet, to solve issues in a personal matter, rather than just by email or other digital means. So, one of the things is establishing and nurturing the existing relationships. The other thing, naturally, is to source for novelties, for understanding what's trendy, what's happening," said Luis.

The fair, which opened Thursday, features record shares of new and green products among its exhibits, with 32,000 companies gathering for the three-phase trade show.

The Canton Fair is held every spring and autumn in Guangzhou since its founding in 1957. It has been seen as a barometer of China's foreign trade. The current edition of the event will last until early November.

Canton Fair holds MoU signing ceremony with eight global partners

Botswana rejects any attempt to carve up Chinese territory or undermine its sovereignty, President Duma Gideon Boko said on Thursday, in the southern African nation's latest reaffirmation of the one-China principle.

Boko made the remarks in an interview with China Media Group (CMG) during his six-day state visit to China, which began on Monday at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

"The one-China principle is inconsistent with anything that seeks to dismember, to parcel out certain portions of Chinese territory and diminish its sovereignty and integrity. And so, the question of Taiwan, to the extent that it seeks the outcome of a dismemberment is inconsistent with our stance on the one-China policy, the one-China principle. And it is something that we can neither countenance nor support," he said.

Earlier this week, China and Botswana issued a joint statement on the establishment of a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, in which Botswana recognized that there is but one China in the world, Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory, and the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China.

Botswana committed to one-China principle: Botswana's president