Running the largest Chinese handicrafts wholesale businesses in
the United States, Martin Jin is still busy in his sixties. His
company now has 50 offices across the country and offers a wide
range of traditional Chinese handicrafts ranging from lacquer to
embroidery.
Yet, were it not for the Canton Fair, Jin would probably have
ended up like the thousands of other retired craftsmen of his age.
And few people would be familiar with his skillfully carved bone
sculptures.
Before visiting the Canton Fair in 1988, Jin had no idea that a
single bone sculpture ivory-like sculptures carved from cow's bones
could sell for up to US$70,000 abroad. And it was the sales he made
at the fair that finally led to him establish his US company in
1995.
Jin is just one of the many entrepreneurs who have benefited
from the Canton Fair, officially called the China Export
Commodities Fair.
Established in 1956, the fair is now the most important event
for China's exporters and has earned a reputation as "the barometer
of China's foreign trade."
Senior fair officials say the fair, which celebrates its 50th
anniversary this year, is also stepping up efforts to develop
itself into a world-class exhibition.
"The Canton Fair is a mirror of China's economy, which has
experienced brisk growth in recent years," said Hu Chusheng,
chairman of the China Foreign Trade Centre (CFTC), which organizes
the fair.
Back in the times of the planned economy, the biannual Canton
Fair was one of the nation's few real windows on global
commerce.
The inaugural Canton Fair attracted 1,223 foreign buyers from 19
countries. Although China only earned US$86.87 million from the two
sessions held in 1957, they still accounted for one-fifth of the
nation's total foreign exchange income of that year.
With China's fast growth in to a major world trading power, the
Canton Fair has also evolved into a colossus. Today the fair
attracts 190,000 buyers from more than 210 countries and regions,
with total turnover topping US$30 billion.
The Canton Fair currently accounts for one quarter of China's
annual general merchandise exports.
Over the past 50 years, the fair has attracted 3.7 million
buyers. It has achieved an accumulated transaction volume of
US$518.3 billion, making it the largest trade fair in China in
terms of turnover, visitors and exhibitors.
However, the Canton Fair has also faced increasing competition
in recent years, as the nation's booming exhibition sector attracts
more players, both from home and abroad.
Presently, China holds 3,200 commercial exhibitions each year,
making it the world's third largest exhibition market after the
European Union and the United States. And major international trade
fair giants including Koelnmesse GmbH, Messe Duesseldorf and Messe
Muenchen International are expanding their operations in China,
eyeing the opportunities in the world's fastest growing major
economy.
"We will spare no efforts to maintain the Canton Fair as a
world-class trade fair, both in terms of exhibiting facilities and
management," said Hu.
The CFTC plans to expand the Guangzhou International Convention
and Exhibition Centre, the newer of the fair's two exhibition
venues.
(China Daily October 10, 2006)