Newsletter:_Canton_Fair_Dynamics Friday,April 03,2009 Posted: 10:35 BJT(0235 GMT)   From:mail    Article type:Reproduced The world is your oyster, explore it! China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, was originated in the Spring of 1957, held semiannually and uninterruptedly for the past over 50 years with more than 100 sessions convened to date. The Canton Fair is a bridge linking China and the outside world. It enables the outside world understand Chinese enterprises and products and establishes a great platform for Chinese products heading for international market. Excellent enterprises in the world gather at the Canton Fair. The Canton Fair sets up an International Pavilion from its 101st session. It serves as a platform to demonstrate their strengths, uplift their brand images and exchange information for exhibitors from home and abroad. In recent years, the number of buyers who came to visit the fair from more than 210 countries and regions reached nearly 200,000 each session. Over 150 of the world’s top 250 Global Retailers make frequent procurement at the Fair, including Wal-mart, Carrefour, Home Depot, Metro, Tesco, Kroger, etc. Footprints around the world Latest dynamics of the Canton Fair are conveyed through face-to-face communications and interactions with overseas buyers in global promotion events. Merely in February, our delegations have participated in fairs in the U.K. and the U.S.A and accomplished four promotion conferences in Germany, Sound Africa, Kenya, and Hong Kong respectively. In March, our delegations continue their mission in presenting the Canton Fair to the world. We are in the same boat to turn risks into opportunities When the world economy is weakening, enterprises are struggling and businesses are losing margins, being a light in the darkness, the Canton Fair has carried out a series of remedies such as scaling-up its promotion campaign and cutting booth fees to assist enterprises in seeking new business opportunities, and to ensure large-scale and high-quality exhibitors for the best choices of overseas buyers. Risks often bring opportunities. According to local media, stars hotels in Guangzhou are in actions of adjusting their rates to half during the 105th Canton Fair as compared to that during the 104th. International airlines are also responding to the low sales by offering major discounts which directly reduce the costs of attending fairs abroad for overseas buyers. Inherited Essence and Continuous Innovation In order to consolidate reform results and help buyers and exhibitors to cope with the severe economic situations, CFTC will give top priority to the overall upgrade of its exhibition service and quality for the 105th session of the Canton Fair, which aims to consolidate the success of holding exhibition in three phases and help both buyers and exhibitors to cope with the critical economic situation. This session of the Canton Fair will further optimize the individualized service for buyers, adopt real-name invitation to facilitate buyers’ visa application, reduce registration time for buyers and further promote the usage of IC Card Entry Badge, and continue to organize the Buyers’ Cup-of-Joy Party and other activities to promote communication between buyers and exhibitors. This session of the Canton Fair will also further enhance supervision of the on-site construction and improve the air condition and environment of the Fair, optimize the guidance system of exhibition halls and install more escalators and sidewalks to improve traffic and help both exhibitors and buyers spend less time on transportation, and invest a substantial fund to establish a public WIFI network covering the whole Fair and restaurants, and bring the e-commerce service to higher level, optimize the overall arrangement of restaurants and introduce more varieties of food and improve the dining environment, etc. To express our sincere gratitude to overseas buyers with kind effort and longstanding support to the Canton Fair, the Overseas VIP Club Service Program is to be launched in the 105th Canton Fair. Overseas buyers with an accumulative attendance of 15 or more would automatically become club members to enjoy privileges and taste the Canton Fair. (For more information about the Oversea VIP Club Service Program, please visit www.cantonfair.org.cn) China Foreign Trade Centre March 31st, 2009

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