BEIJING, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- The 140th edition of the China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, will be held in three phases from Oct. 15 to Nov. 4 in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, with more than 32,000 companies set to participate, the Ministry of Commerce said on Friday.
Over the past seven decades, the Canton Fair has grown into China's largest and longest-running international trade fair, with the widest range of products, the largest number of buyers and the highest transaction volume, Zhang Li, assistant minister of commerce, said at a press conference.
China's trade in goods rose 17.6 percent year on year to 34.8 trillion yuan (about 5.15 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first eight months of 2026, with exports up 14.6 percent and imports increasing by 22 percent.
Zhang said China's foreign trade has shown stronger momentum in innovation and continued structural upgrading this year, trends also reflected at the Canton Fair.
Among the exhibitors, more than 11,000 are high-quality enterprises, including those that use specialized and sophisticated technologies to produce novel and unique products and those that hold leading positions in specific manufacturing segments, Zhang noted.
Roughly 64 percent of exhibitors use new technologies such as the industrial internet and artificial intelligence (AI), while new and green products will account for 23.2 percent and 26 percent of exhibits, respectively, with both shares reaching record highs.
This year's fair will further enhance its digital and intelligent operations by integrating technologies like AI and big data throughout the exhibition process, said Zhang.
It will introduce 22 smart application scenarios and 16 AI applications for the first time, and will be the first in China's exhibition industry to provide booth-level navigation across the entire venue and augmented reality displays of booth information.
Foreign trade companies are increasingly shifting from simply securing orders and selling products to building business systems and improving services. This year's fair will for the first time cover 10 categories of producer services in its trade services section, and 36.5 percent of exhibitors have shifted to a "product plus service" model, Zhang revealed.
More than 210,000 overseas buyers have so far completed pre-registration for this year's fair, with more expected to register as the opening date approaches.
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Canton Fair, which has expanded from 9,600 square meters of exhibition space and 1,200 buyers at its inaugural session to 1.55 million square meters and around 310,000 buyers today.
The changing mix of products at the fair reflects the evolution of China's industrial structure. Agricultural and specialty products, handicrafts, textiles and light industrial goods featured prominently in its earlier years, before mechanical and electrical products became the fair's largest product category for the first time at its 86th session in 1999.
Today, the fair features products ranging from consumer electronics to new energy storage products, embodied intelligence products and smart medical equipment, with many cutting-edge Chinese-made products making their debuts at the event.
The Canton Fair has also served as a platform for Chinese foreign trade companies to enter and expand in international markets. From 1965 to 1979, annual exports generated through the fair accounted for more than 30 percent of China's total exports, exceeding 50 percent in some years, Zhang said.
Today, participating companies account for approximately 5 percent of China's foreign trade enterprises but contribute 16 percent of the country's general trade exports, according to Zhang.
Beyond securing orders, the fair also brings together the latest global market demand, consumer preferences, industry trends, product standards and application scenarios, Zhang said.
