'Basically, everything is made in China': At the Canton Fair, the world's factory faces the tariff war
FeatureThe major fair, holding its 137th edition from April 15 to May 5, serves as an accurate indicator of Beijing's trade relations with the rest of the world. In the aisles, Chinese exporters express concern over the tariff war initiated by Donald Trump.
Business cards are stacked in thick piles. Sales representatives are ready for intense days of negotiating volumes, prices and, they hope, securing orders. Buyers from around the globe crowd the security check: Africans, Latin Americans, Westerners, Middle Easterners – people from all over seem to have gathered to purchase from China. "A warm welcome to guests from all countries and regions participating in the 137th Canton Fair [Guangzhou]!" proclaimed a huge banner stretched across the central walkway spanning an eight-lane road.
Nowhere is the cliché of "the world's factory" more tangible than at this fair, held twice a year in spring (from April 15 to May 5, 2025) and in autumn, at an exhibition ground of impressive scale along the Pearl River. Tractors, cooktops, solar panels, smartphones or drills: for each type of product, dozens of exhibitors are ready to do business with the 200,000 visiting buyers.
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