On the afternoon of October 14, 2026, Chinese Premier Li Qiang attended the opening ceremony of the 140th China Import and Export Fair (the Canton Fair) in Guangzhou and delivered a keynote speech. The fair itself formally opened on October 15 and will run through November 4 in three phases. This year marks the Canton Fair's 70th anniversary, and President Xi Jinping sent a special congratulatory letter reviewing the fair's historic achievements and reaffirming China's commitment to steadily advancing high-standard opening-up. In his remarks, Li Qiang conveyed the contents of Xi's letter, stressing that the Canton Fair, as a key window for China's opening to the outside world, has witnessed profound changes in China's economic and trade relations with the world over the past 70 years.

In his keynote, Li Qiang put forward three points: first, that market connectivity is a move to create increments, with countries working together to grow the overall size of the global market; second, that international trade is a choice that enhances welfare, allowing people of all nations to share in the fruits of development; and third, that mutual benefit is mutual empowerment, with all parties deepening cooperation to achieve common development. He cited figures to illustrate the fair's growth: when the first session was held in 1957, the exhibition area was only 9,600 square meters with about 1,200 buyers; this session's total exhibition area has reached 1.55 million square meters, with more than 300,000 overseas buyers expected to attend — more than 160 times the scale of the first session.

At the opening ceremony, World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala delivered remarks via video, emphasizing the importance of upholding the multilateral trading system and ensuring the stable and unimpeded operation of global industrial and supply chains amid rising trade protectionism — echoing language in Xi's congratulatory letter. The ceremony was attended by more than 700 representatives from Chinese and foreign business communities as well as government officials, with Politburo member Huang Kunming and Vice Premier Wu Zhenglong among those taking part in related activities. After the ceremony, Li Qiang toured several enterprise pavilions at the fair to learn firsthand about exhibitors' products and technological innovations.

On trade policy, Li Qiang stated clearly in his speech that China would pursue high-quality development, expand high-standard opening-up, and import more high-quality goods — particularly high-value-added products — to help make trade more balanced. The remarks were widely seen as a response to international concerns over China's persistent trade surplus: according to reports including Hong Kong's South China Morning Post, Li stressed that China is willing to open its market and welcome high-quality products from around the world, easing external concerns about trade imbalances while reinforcing China's position as a hub in global supply chains.

This session of the Canton Fair is held at the China Import and Export Fair Complex on Pazhou Island on the southern bank of the Pearl River in Guangzhou, with a total of about 75,700 booths across three phases, each built around a different theme. Phase One (October 15-19) is themed "Advanced Manufacturing," covering electronics, home appliances, machinery, hardware tools, lighting, new energy and vehicles. Phase Two (October 23-27, currently underway) is themed "Quality Living," covering household goods, furniture, gifts and building materials. Phase Three (October 31-November 4) will be themed "Better Life," covering textiles and garments, footwear, toys, food and health products. According to figures previously released by the Ministry of Commerce, more than 32,000 enterprises are exhibiting this session, including over 11,000 recognized as "specialized, refined, differentiated and innovative" (SRDI) firms or industry leaders, while pre-registered overseas buyers have already topped 220,000, with professional buyers accounting for nearly 80 percent.

According to Canton Fair organizers and Xinhua reports on October 19, Phase One of the fair's offline exhibition (October 15-19) concluded successfully, drawing 189,000 overseas buyers from 214 countries and regions — up 13.3% year-on-year and a record scale, confirming the strong momentum suggested by earlier pre-registration figures. By comparison, the 139th Canton Fair (spring session), held from April to May 2026, drew a cumulative 314,000 overseas buyers from 220 countries and regions, with on-site intended orders reaching US$25.7 billion; many buyers also arranged follow-up factory visits to solidify long-term partnerships.

This session of the fair also introduced a number of innovations in how it is organized. According to organizers, about 64 percent of exhibiting enterprises have already applied new technologies such as industrial internet and artificial intelligence, with new products accounting for 23.2 percent of exhibits — a record high; among these, new products in emerging future industries such as service robots, smart healthcare and new energy grew by roughly 20 percent year-on-year, while the number of newly launched products overall rose 15 percent. This session also introduced, for the first time, 22 smart application scenarios and 16 AI-powered features, including booth navigation accurate to within one meter, the ability for exhibitors and buyers to exchange digital business cards by scanning a code, and a system that automatically generates summaries of business negotiations to improve matchmaking efficiency. Organizers said more than 700 new-product launch events were scheduled this session, with a dedicated new-product debut zone set up for the first time, showcasing the latest results of China's manufacturing sector's shift toward smarter, greener production.

The fair's opening comes as China's foreign trade shows steady growth. Figures previously released by the State Council Information Office show that China's total goods trade in the first three quarters of 2026 approached 40 trillion yuan, maintaining double-digit year-on-year growth, with September's monthly trade value topping 5 trillion yuan for the first time. Analysts say that against a backdrop of rising global trade protectionism and tariff increases by some economies, the Canton Fair — China's largest and longest-running comprehensive trade exhibition — not only offers Chinese exporters a stable platform to expand into international markets, but also serves as an important window for observing the direction of China's industrial upgrading. This session has seen an expanded presence of emerging sectors such as new-energy vehicles, smart manufacturing and cross-border e-commerce compared with previous years, reflecting a shift in China's export structure away from traditional labor-intensive goods toward higher value-added, higher-technology products.

Over 70 years, the Canton Fair has evolved from an exhibition originally focused mainly on earning export revenue into a comprehensive international trade platform combining export and import functions with a blend of online and offline formats. In recent years the fair has continued to expand its import exhibition zones, invited more enterprises from Belt and Road partner countries and regions to participate, and actively applied digital technology to improve its operations, including setting up online showrooms and using artificial intelligence to assist business matchmaking. Industry observers note that as China deepens trade cooperation with emerging markets such as ASEAN, the Middle East and Africa, the composition of the fair's international buyers is also changing, with the share of buyers from emerging markets on the rise.

Looking ahead, as the fair's second and third phases continue to unfold, more new products and trade cooperation outcomes across various industries are expected to emerge over the coming two weeks. Markets are watching closely whether this session can sustain the strong deal-making momentum of previous fairs, supporting China's goal of steady foreign trade growth for the full year, while also offering companies worldwide an important reference point for tracking trends in the Chinese market and identifying cooperation opportunities.