Changes herald new era for event
The 73rd Guangzhou Trade Fair, which starts today, will introduce several major changes under China's open-door policy.
For the first time the fair, officially titled the Chinese Export Commodities Fair, will last for only 10 days - the shortest time in its 36-year history.
This is part of a trend which has seen the duration drop from a month, when the fair first opened in 1957, to 21 days and, in the late 1980s, to 15 days.
The decline partly reflects the change in status of the exhibition.
In the early days, the main way of contacting suppliers in China was through the spring and autumn fairs at Guangzhou and a month was reasonable.
Over the years, as China opened up and businessmen were free to travel to other cities to negotiate with individual factories, Guangzhou lost its special position.
Major trade fairs are now held in Beijing and Shanghai and, during the past 18 months, increasing numbers of municipal and provincial trade delegations have held exhibitions in Hongkong, to take advantage of the large number of international trading companies operating here.
Increasingly, businessmen who do regular business with China travel to the spring and autumn fairs only to keep in touch with their business partners and colleagues from across China.
Another reason for the reduced length of the fair is that exhibitors realise they can no longer afford to be away from their enterprises for such a long time.
However, it is still useful for people new to China or for those who want to compare products from several different regions.
At the 1991 spring fair, deals worth US$5.74 billion were closed. Last year, the figure increased to US$5.95 billion.
Since 1957, the spring and autumn fairs have, between them, earned more than US$130 billion in exports for China.
This year also sees a radical change in the make-up of the delegations.
Gone are the traditional trade delegations based on a particular industry such as textiles or farming produce.
In their place are delegations which are organised depending on location.
Trade delegations from 14 municipalities, 22 provinces and five autonomous regions will take part, together with a delegation from the Special Economic Zones, a comprehensive trading delegation, and the Sin Shi Dai and San Ding trade delegations.
This follows Beijing's policy of decentralising control. The effects have already been seen in Hongkong through the steady flow of similar delegations holding exhibitions here.
The third major reform will alter the whole style of the fair.
Instead of an all-embracing exhibition displaying everything from silk fans to bulldozers, the spring fair will concentrate on 12 categories.
The two main products are textiles and light industrial products. Other categories are silk, processed foods, Chinese drugs and patent medicine, hardware, arts and crafts, garments, farming produce, animal by-products, stone carvings, and medicine, medical apparatus and instruments.
About 48,600 people from 150 countries attended the 1992 spring fair and the organisers expect 50,000 this year.
Chinese exporters have been looking for new markets in South America, Europe and Asia, part of China's policy to diversify its markets.
South Koreans took advantage of improved relations with China to visit last year's spring fair and, now that diplomatic relations have been established, China is hoping the trickle will become a flood.
The poor state of the world economy has had an affect on trade in the past, but the improving situation in countries such as Australia and the United States should encourage a good turnout.
The fair, which is held at the Guangzhou Foreign Trade Centre, is organised jointly by the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade (MOFERT), the Guangdong Provincial Government and the Guangzhou City Government.
The autumn fair, which will run from October 15-30, will remain a 15-day event covering a comprehensive range of products, including machinery, metals and chemicals.