The first phase of the 109th Canton Fair was held in the Canton Fair Pavilion from April 15 to 19, 2011. Wang Qishan, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of The State Council, inspected the Canton Fair and held a symposium on foreign trade situation, giving important instructions on the development of the Canton Fair and foreign trade work, and encouraging the confidence of the foreign trade front.
Overseas buyers attended the meeting and export transactions increased
The first phase of the Canton Fair exhibited electronics and home appliances, lighting, vehicles and accessories, machinery, hardware tools, building materials, chemicals and other products. According to Liu Jianjun, deputy Secretary-General and spokesman of the Canton Fair, the first phase of overseas buyers attended the meeting and export transactions increased. 107,000 foreign buyers attended the meeting, an increase of 8.4% compared with the previous session (the same below), and about 40% of foreign buyers participated for the first time, an increase of 2.2 percentage points. Emerging markets grew faster, with the BRICS (India, Russia, Brazil, South Africa) growing by 19.9%; Asean grew by 22.4 percent; Traditional markets generally declined, with a 10% decline in the EU and a 3.7% decline in the US; The number of Japanese buyers increased slightly, reflecting increased demand for affordable consumer goods after the earthquake. Buyers from Libya, Cote d ‘Ivoire, Tunisia, Bahrain and Egypt fell between 8% and 80%.
The export volume of the first phase of the Canton Fair was 23.03 billion US dollars, an increase of 8.9%. Among them, the US increased by 13.6%, the EU increased by 35.2%, the BRICS increased by 32.4%, the ASEAN decreased by 7.5%, and the Middle East decreased by 19.8%.
The transformation and upgrading of enterprises and the brand effect have achieved initial results
Liu Jianjun pointed out that the transformation and upgrading of enterprises and the brand effect have achieved initial results. Exhibitors have generally enhanced the awareness of transformation and upgrading, building their own brands and protecting intellectual property rights, increased research and development investment, and improved product quality and brand awareness, thus enhancing bargaining power. The proportion of new products in the first phase reached 10-20%, the proportion of green low-carbon environmental protection products increased, and the price increase range was 15-20%. Such as Gree inverter air conditioner in addition to the use of solar power supply, but also the remaining power into the grid, the price is 50% higher than similar air conditioners; A new food waste processor developed by Nine Power Technologies that is more energy efficient than its peers has won nearly $20 million in orders. The first phase of the Canton Fair also continued to expand the scale of the brand exhibition area, brand booths accounted for 19.8% of all booths, and transactions accounted for 48%; In the transaction of household appliances, independent brands accounted for 20%, and Haier Group’s independent brand transactions accounted for more than 80% of its own turnover.
Uncertainty and rising costs restrict business transactions
Liu Jianjun said that the demand for emerging markets has further improved, the recovery of European and American markets has been slow, and exhibitors have made prudent transactions, which generally reflects the existence of great uncertainties. Taking into account the continuous depreciation of the US dollar, the European sovereign debt crisis, the rapid rise in the cost of raw materials and domestic labor and other production factors, and the difficulty of financing for enterprises, although overseas buyers are eager to place orders, export enterprises are not profitable, and dare not take long orders in order to avoid losses, with short and medium orders accounting for 89%.
Canton Fair value-added services are welcomed
Liu Jianjun said that the value-added services introduced at the Canton Fair are welcome. In order to help enterprises transform and upgrade and cope with uncertainties, the Ministry of Commerce intensified the publicity of product quality safety and intellectual property protection during the session. Held a seminar on cross-border RMB settlement with the People’s Bank of China; A seminar on intellectual property rights was held jointly with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan. Held the China-Eurasia Expo domestic investment promotion meeting with the Xinjiang Autonomous Region government and the XPCC; The Canton Fair Product Design and trade Promotion Center will be established, and international designers will be organized to negotiate with exhibitors in the second phase.
Liu Jianjun finally said that exhibitors generally hope to maintain the stability of foreign trade policies, especially export tax rebate policies, so that enterprises can focus on coping with the export pressure caused by rising raw material prices, exchange rate fluctuations, and rising labor costs. Exhibitors reflected that raising the deposit reserve ratio and interest rate is very necessary to manage inflation expectations and curb price rises, and it is suggested that they be used flexibly, and that loan financing for manufacturing industry, especially export industry, should be treated differently.
It is reported that the second phase of the 109th session of the Canton Fair will continue to be held in the Canton Fair Pavilion from April 23 to 27, displaying three commodity categories, such as “daily consumption category”, “gift category” and “home decoration category”, with 17 exhibition areas.