70-Year-Old Canton Fair is the Witness of the "Go Global" Efforts of Huadu enterprises
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Canton Fair. This session of the Fair has reached a new high in scale, with the total exhibition area, the total number of booths and the number of participating enterprises all exceeding previous sessions. The number of overseas buyers attending the first phase of this session of Canton Fair also reached a record high, demonstrating once again the strong appeal of "China's No.1 exhibition".
Over the past 70 years, the Canton Fair and Guangzhou have coexisted and prospered; Guangzhou has made the Canton Fair successful, and the Canton Fair has also made Guangzhou successful. Now the Canton Fair has become an excellent window to observe China's opening-up to the outside world. Inside the window, thousands of stories are playing out, including that of Huadu District in northern Guangzhou: from "a soldier fighting alone" to "a member of the main phalanx", from "traditional manufacturing" to "emerging intelligent manufacturing", from "buying from and selling to the world" to "connecting the world"; just like a drop of water, it reflects how the Canton Fair nourishes the land, how it in turn profits from this enterprising land, and how they join together the tide of the era of high-quality development.
From "a soldier fighting alone"
To "a member of the main phalanx”
The connection between Huadu and the Canton Fair is not preordained. In the early days, the spotlight of the Canton Fair was more on central cities and large state-owned enterprises; but with the arrival of the new century, Huadu enterprises began to knock on this door. Established companies such as Ye's Leather Goods actively explored South America and other emerging markets through the Canton Fair and gained a firm foothold in the wave of globalization.
A soldier fighting alone can’t accomplish much. And the transformation began under the strong guidance of the government. At the 115thCanton Fair, Huadu gathered Shiling leather goods enterprises together to make a collective appearance under one overall image in the form of a leather goods "street" created through special decoration of contiguous booths. After more than ten years of careful work, the number of continuous booths has risen from a few dozens to over one hundred, and the brand of "Shiling Leather" has emerged with ever brighter light at the Canton Fair, where thousands of merchants gather, and have become a golden business card for promoting Huadu. This also marks the transformation of Huadu's model of participation in the Canton Fair from the spontaneous search for business opportunities by enterprises to brand-oriented offensive driven by government guidance and industrial collaboration.
According to the relevant person in charge of the Huadu District Council for the Promotion of International Trade, the leather goods "street" was so successful at the Canton Fair that exhibitors have been organized to participate in exhibitions in Germany, Russia and other places, making the name of "China's Leather Capital" famous abroad as well as at home.
The turning point also came from a national strategy. In March 2017, Huadu District was approved as the first pilot of national market purchase trade mode in South China. This policy, which aims to provide customs clearance convenience for "multi-variety, small batch size and high frequency" foreign trade goods, is a perfect match with the needs of small, medium and micro leather goods enterprises in Huadu, which are huge in number. The Canton Fair has since taken on a deeper meaning for Huadu: it is not only an exhibition for purchase orders, but also an excellent stage to promote this new national trade model.
At the 133rdCanton Fair, Huadu National-level Market Purchase Trade Pilot Project Exhibition Zone presented a special exhibition area, dedicated to publicity and promotion of market purchase trade policies, in order to make more enterprises understand and participate in market purchase trade to explore convenient channels for the export of small commodities.
And this signaled that the role of Huadu in the Canton Fair completed a gorgeous turn from a traditional exhibitor to an explorer of new foreign trade formats. According to the Huadu District Bureau of Commerce, at the 136thCanton Fair, Huadu District recorded 481 million US dollars in intended purchase amount, ranking first among all districts in Guangzhou; at the 138thCanton Fair, this figure climbed to 497 million US dollars, accounting for 18.47% of the city's total, continuing to lead the city; and at the 139thCanton Fair, Huadu has organized 204 enterprises to make a wonderful appearance with 686 booths, ranking first in the number of exhibitors and booths in all districts of the city.
Huadu has become an indispensable "member of the main phalanx" on the stage of the Canton Fair, and fully demonstrates the strong foreign trade strength of "Made in Huadu".
From "Traditional Manufacturing”
To "emerging intelligent manufacturing"
The Canton Fair is a mirror that reflects the changes in the global market; and it is also a bridge between manufacturing plants and future trends. It is the way to survive and the key to development for Huadu enterprises to use this bridge to complete the leap from tradition to innovation.
The Canton Fair is a "sensor" that take the pulse of the market. It is time to begin product upgrade when international buyers no longer ask about price only, but also pay more attention to whether the product is smart, environmentally friendly, and offers personalized experience. The "tracking and anti-theft backpack" revealed by Guangzhou Kingsons Leather Products Co., Ltd revealed at the 137thCanton Fair, a product integrating anti-theft and intelligent tracking functions, designed for urban commuters and travelers, not only received intentional orders worth about 4.5 million yuan, but also won the 2025 Canton Fair Design Innovation Gold Award, and was selected as a "must-buy" city gift of Guangzhou.
The Canton Fair is also a "connector" that brings together global resources. Huadu District took the initiative to do a good job in the second part of establishing a win-win relationship with merchants. During the 138thCanton Fair, Huadu District organized enterprises to participate in nearly 30 docking activities, invited buyer groups to visit companies of Huadu exhibitors, and promoted the direct interaction between local enterprises and leading buyers.
The Canton Fair is an "amplifier" for the government to empower industrial transformation. Huadu District takes the Canton Fair as an opportunity to gradually build a solid digital infrastructure and promote the transformation and upgrading of the whole industrial chain. For the leather goods industry, Huadu supports the construction of the "Bao Liao Ren" Bag Industry Chain Collaborative Manufacturing Platform, which helps enterprises manage people, materials, and factories through design collaboration, production coordination, and supply and demand coordination, and has been adopted by more than 1,000 upstream and downstream enterprises. With the help of this platform, small and medium-sized enterprises can complete the whole process from design, material finding, subcontracting to production online after receiving orders from the Canton Fair, with the efficiency being increased by more than 30%. Last year, in the face of a tight schedule and heavy task, Guangzhou Huitong Industrial Group Co., Ltd. completed 75,000 "parade gift bags" for the September 3rd military parade in just 31 days, making Huadu manufacturing shine on the national stage.
A review of the 70-year history of the Canton Fair shows that the "gold content" of Huadu exhibitors continues to be highlighted. Huadu exhibitors of the 139th Canton Fair include 114 national high-tech enterprises, 65 provincial SRDI enterprises, and 2 national SRDI "little giant" enterprises. A variety of innovative products integrating low-altitude economy and artificial intelligence by Guangdong Yufei Aviation Investment Co., Ltd, Guangdong Rayton Intelligent Opto. Co., Ltd and other enterprises display the innovative vitality and transformation results of "Huadu Intelligent Manufacturing".
From "buying from and selling to the world”
To "connecting the world”
The significance of the Canton Fair go far beyond the turnover of one time at one place. For Huadu, it is a strategic lever to achieve higher level of regional opening-up.
The Fair promotes the internationalization and branding of the enterprises. For an enterprise to be eligible to participate in the Canton Fair, in addition to have its export volume reaching a certain amount, it also needs to satisfy strict access standards such as international certification and trademark registration. And this promotes the enterprise to carry out a new round of transformation and upgrading, shifting from the previous extensive development mode to the brand-oriented development path. Today, the regional brand of "Shiling Leather" has been successfully registered in 19 countries around the world, with a brand value of 20 billion yuan.
The Fair has driven the globalization and deepening of trade networks. With the help of the bridge of the Canton Fair, enterprises have not only consolidated the traditional markets in Europe and the United States, but also opened new markets such as the "Belt and Road" countries and RCEP member countries, created new export channels characterized by "compliance, convenience and efficiency", deepened the long-term cooperation mechanism of international procurement docking, and formed a closed loop of sustainable trade development that "connects the world". Last year, Huadu District's import and export trade with ASEAN, the Middle East, the "Belt and Road" countries, and RCEP member countries increased by 48%, 42.3%, 28.2%, and 28.8% respectively.
The Fair has shaped a regional spirit of openness, inclusiveness, and daring to try. Over the years, generations of Huadu entrepreneurs have learned to align with international rules, and honed their global perspectives through the Canton Fair. This is the precious asset bestowed by the Canton Fair. In 2025, the total import and export value of foreign trade of Huadu District recorded 75.25 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.8%, injecting strong foreign trade momentum into the region's high-quality development.
In the 70thyear of the world-connecting Canton, the story of Huadu takes on a new look. From the Pearl River to the north of Guangzhou, it connects not only the geographical space, it also represents the journey of Huadu manufacturing to transform and upgrade, and to go global. Looking to the future, the story of the Canton Fair will continue, and the chapter of Huadu will be even more splendid.