The 127th China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair) will include online platforms for exhibiting and docking, cross-border e-commerce sections, and live streaming services for marketing, according to Assistant Minister of Commerce Ren Hongbin at the press conference held by the State Council Information Office (SCIO) on the afternoon of April 10th.

With the central government deciding to host the 127th Canton Fair online in mid to late June due to the current global situation, Ren pointed out that the Fair will focus on B2B with consideration to be given to B2C, offering a 24-hour service allowing companies from all over the world to display their products, find suppliers and purchasers, hold negotiations, as well as place orders and do business from home.

Li Xingqian, head of the Department of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce, explained in detail how the online Canton Fair will be held this year at the press conference.

People visit the 126th Canton Fair in Guangzhou. (Photo: Shi Lei)

Online platform for exhibiting and docking

The Ministry will invite a total of nearly 25,000 enterprises to exhibit their services and products online in virtual pavilions, with categories that are in line with previous iterations of the Canton Fair.

The National Pavilion will be comprised of 16 categories including ‘Electronics & Household Electrical Appliances’, ‘Consumer Goods’, ‘Textiles & Garments’, and ‘Medicines, Medical Devices & Health Products’, and will be divided into 50 exhibition areas.

The International Pavilion will showcase products across 6 categories including ‘Electronics & Household Electrical Appliances’ and ‘Building Materials & Hardware’.

All exhibits will simultaneously launch online.

The query system will be optimized and available in multiple languages to facilitate the search for exhibitors and exhibits.

The fair will also ramp up services helping participants find suppliers or purchasers and hold online networking events to boost partnering.

People visit the 126th Canton Fair in Guangzhou. (Photo: Shi Lei)

Cross-border e-commerce sections

On the theme of ‘Canton Fair, Global Share’, business activities will be held online during specified time periods.

Cross-border e-commerce sections will be set up to promote the pilot zones for cross-border e-commerce and well-known brands.

The fair welcomes other outstanding cross-border e-commerce platforms encouraging them to strange for the enterprises currently on their platforms to participate in the fair.

A shop owner sells clothes through live stream at a wholesale market in Haicheng, northeast China's Liaoning Province, March 4, 2020. (Photo: Xinhua/Yao Jianfeng)

Live streaming service

The fair will have a live streaming section, offering bandwidth to each exhibitor around the clock, a forum where they can FaceTime with their potential buyers without interruption or promote their products or service to a large number of ‘visitors’.

Before the fair, exhibitors will be able to attend live streaming training to improve their sales technique.

In addition, participants will be able to watch playback of all live streams, upload videos, comment and share their views.