The 136th session of the China Import and Export Fair, popularly known as the Canton Fair, kicked off in the morning on October 15 at the China Import and Export Fair Complex in Guangzhou. It will be held in three phases, including 55 exhibition areas spread over 1.55 million square meters, between October 15 and November 4.

The first phase will be held from October 15 to October 19, including six categories: electronics & appliances, manufacturing, vehicles & two wheels, light & electrical, hardware, and the international pavilion.

As of October 12, some 138,000 overseas buyers from 209 countries and regions have pre-registered for the 136th Canton Fair.

New companies, products, technologies and business models are attracting the attention of visitors from home and abroad. The Canton Fair's online platform continues to operate on a regular basis. Eighteen functions are optimized, and a new Canton Fair app is launched for this year's session. The scale of online participation is larger, with about 48,000 companies uploading approximately 3.75 million products, representing a 60% increase in the number of companies and a 50% increase in the number of products compared to the previous session, both setting new historical records.

There are nearly 4,600 new exhibitors at this year's Canton Fair and more than 8,000 enterprises with national high-tech or manufacturing champion titles, an increase of more than 40% over the previous session. There are about 3,600 enterprises related to the 'new trio' (namely, electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries, and photovoltaic products), digital technology, and intelligent manufacturing. The event will showcase 1.15 million new products, 1.04 million green products, and 1.11 million products with independent intellectual property rights.

Board member of the China-Italy Chamber of Commerce, Alessandro Lamantia, shares that the Canton Fair is like a mirror of the Chinese economy. It is not only a trading exhibition but basically a platform for cooperation.