China’s Canton Fair suffers third straight decline in export orders as trade war weighs heavily

Exporters at the autumn session of the Canton Fair signed deals worth 207 billion yuan (US$29.4 billion), a drop of 1.9 per cent compared a year earlier

In total, 186,015 buyers visited the event in Guangzhou, down 2 per cent from a year earlier, with organisers having expected some 200,000 buyers to visit 60,767 booths

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The Canton Fair, which was held in Guangzhou for three weeks from October 15, is seen as a gauge of the health of China’s economy and its trading conditions, which are both under increasing pressure caused largely by the trade war with the United States. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 8:56pm, 4 Nov 2019Updated: 8:56pm, 4 Nov 2019

Export deals signed at the latest edition of China’s largest trade fair suffered a third consecutive year-on-year decline, a time period that coincides with the duration of the 16-month trade war with the United States, organisers eventually confirmed on Monday.

Exporters at the autumn session of the Canton Fair signed deals worth 207 billion yuan (US$29.4 billion), a drop of 1.9 per cent compared to the results of the event a year earlier. It follows similar slight year-on-year declines for the previous two editions in April and October 2018.

In total, 186,015 buyers visited the fair, down 2 per cent from a year earlier, with organisers having expected some 200,000 buyers to visit 60,767 exhibition booths, although they had added a note of caution to their prediction made on October 15 due to preregistration figures, as well as hotel and airline reservations.

The Canton Fair, which was held in Guangzhou for three weeks from October 15, is seen as a gauge of the health of China’s economy and its trading conditions, which are both under increasing pressure caused largely by the trade war with the United States.

This autumn session is much bleaker than the spring one in April. There were few buyers asking for prices, let alone placing orders

Harlin Han

Organisers had earlier been stopped from the releasing the key figures by China’s Ministry of Commerce, increasing speculation of disappointing sales and visitors numbers and suggesting China’s export outlook is worse than expected.