Good news for global buyers – Guangzhou’s Canton Fair (also known as China Import and Export Fair) will trudge ahead despite the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.

China’s Premier Li Keqiang said that the spring exhibition will go ahead as planned during a State Council meeting on March 10. The premier noted five other measures that the State Council expects to put forth in order to continue disease prevention and control as well as stabilize foreign trade and investment.

In the beginning of February, the complex that hosts the Canton Fair suspended activities indefinitely, according to a WeChat post by the venue which has since been deleted. There was early speculation that the fair may be postponed or cancelled; however, in late February the director-general of the Ministry of Commerce’s Department of Foreign Investment Administration said preparation efforts for the 127th Canton Fair had been unaffected by the public health crisis.

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Unfortunately, given the increasingly complicated international travel situation and mandated quarantine for travelers entering Guangdong province from countries and regions severely affected by the new coronavirus, the 127th Canton Fair is likely to take a hit in terms of attendance and export transaction volume.

According to the official website of the Canton Fair, phase one of the exhibition will begin April 15.

The last session of the Canton Fair, held from October 15, 2019 to November 4, 2019, brought in over 186,000 overseas buyers and nearly USD30 billion in business turnover, according to their official website.

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[Cover image via Wikimedia]