A TOTAL of 1,112 Shenzhen enterprises are participating in the 127th China Import and Export Fair, popularly known as Canton Fair, which kicked off online Monday, a first for the decades-old trade fair in Guangzhou.

This year’s online fair, which will last 10 days, has attracted around 25,000 businesses with 1.8 million products.

Premier Li Keqiang made a speech at the event’s virtual opening ceremony in Beijing on Monday. He urged efforts to develop more overseas warehouse platforms to serve small and medium-sized enterprises, noting that developing international e-commerce can help firms survive and thrive amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The fair will provide around-the-clock services, including online exhibitions, promotion, business docking and negotiations, according to Li Jinqi, director general of the China Foreign Trade Center.

According to Ye Hua, an official with Shenzhen’s commerce bureau, the Shenzhen trade delegation was allocated 2,808 virtual booths at the fair.

Many quality products will make their debuts at the largest trade show of China through live streams. More than 60 product launch events will be held in live-streaming showrooms, and buyers can find the product details from product demonstration, promotional videos and roadshows remotely, as well as by visiting their online exhibition halls.

“We have been facing huge challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the digital Canton Fair is our endeavor to bring market potential to the global business,” said Liu Quandong, deputy director general of Foreign Affairs Office of Canton Fair.

“We invite buyers to visit these events to find out the innovative products that fulfill their needs, and to discover how we can work together to form a better and more safe global supply chain.”

The fair is also launching supporting events, including sourcing demand briefing seminars that can connect buyers with China’s leading e-commerce platforms, where participants can find out market trends and consumer behavior insights to make effective decisions.

In addition, the fair is cooperating with Guangzhou Customs to host three online events. Experts will explain and promote Guangzhou’s newly launched cross-border trade facilitation measures, customs clearance policies for top sales products at the fair, as well as other supporting services that can help boost international trade recovery.

As the fair’s technical service provider, tech-giant Tencent adopted technical means including instant communication, online conferences and live-streaming to overcome barriers of time and space for participants.

The Canton Fair is held biannually in Guangzhou every spring and fall. Established in 1957, the fair is now a comprehensive exhibition with the longest history, highest level, largest scale and largest number of products as well as the broadest distribution of buyer origins and the highest business turnover in China.

For more information about this year’s fair, please visit https://buyer.cantonfair.org.cn/en/register/selectiveId.

(Han Ximin)