Major Chinese trade fair sees rebounding turnover

GUANGZHOU - The spring session of the Canton Fair, China's largest trade fair, saw more overseas buyers and larger trade deals in comparison to last year's autumn session, the event's organizers said Sunday, indicating that trade may see a modest recovery this year.

The 113th session of the Canton Fair, which closed on Sunday, received 202,766 overseas purchasers, up 7.06 percent from the previous session held last October, fair spokesman Liu Jianjun said.

Liu, who is also deputy director of the China Foreign Trade Center, said the value of trade deals struck at the biannual event reached $35.5 billion, an increase of 8.8 percent from the last session.

The number of overseas purchasers and the total trade value, however, came in at 3.8 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively, lower than that of last year's spring session, Liu said.

Although the trade situation is improving this year, there has not been a fundamental improvement in external demand and trade pressure is far from being relieved, Liu said.

Chinese exporters are facing many challenges, including higher labor and materials costs, the appreciation of the yuan, higher fundraising costs and increasing trade friction, the spokesman said.

About 84 percent of orders placed at the fair came from agreements with terms of six months or less, he said.

"This shows that global buyers have remained cautious in clinching long-term orders due to the effects of the global financial crisis," Liu said.

"Chinese exporters are also unwilling to accept long-term deals due to fluctuations in raw material prices and foreign exchange rates," Liu said.