“Global Business, Shared Prosperity.” Amid the undercurrents of rising trade barriers and headwinds of unilateralism, the 137th Canton Fair unfolds with the theme “Openness for a Win-Win Future,” sending a resounding message of China’s commitment to broader openness and sharing development opportunities with the world.
Here, what you gain goes far beyond orders. Centered on key industry concerns—from shifting global trade dynamics and policy-driven industry empowerment to enhanced risk resilience—the China Foreign Trade Centre Group, in collaboration with over 100 professional institutions and corporate representatives, has meticulously curated 19 Canton Fair forums to address these critical themes.
What sparks will fly when policy experts, academic authorities, and industry leaders converge? Through the window of the Canton Fair forums, what new vision emerges for China’s foreign trade? Below, we outline the four key highlights of this edition’s forum events:
01 Countering the ‘Tariff Turmoil’ with Canton Fair Solutions
The more turbulent the global trade winds, the stronger our commitment to openness.
At the Canton Fair, even as tariffs rise, business thrives. The bustling crowds speak volumes about the resilience and confidence of China’s foreign trade. In responding to the “tariff turmoil,” the Canton Fair exemplifies China’s wisdom: countering isolation with openness, and bridging divides with connectivity.
The 137th Canton Fair Forum brought together top think tanks, industry associations, and key institutions to address global concerns, amplify China’s voice, and respond to business needs. By releasing high-quality industry reports, it presented the “Canton Fair Solution”—a vision for stabilizing the global economic order and sharing development opportunities.
Addressing Global Concerns
The forum focused on pivotal international issues such as the transition of economic growth drivers, unimpeded global logistics, and the digital transformation of trade. It served as a platform for in-depth dialogue in the global economic and trade arena, uniting stakeholders to tackle challenges posed by the “tariff turmoil.” Participants jointly explored strategies to expand the global market pie,revitalize international collaboration and strengthen shared global mechanisms with the shared goal of maintaining stable and efficient global industrial and supply chain operations.
Amplifying Industry Perspectives
The Canton Fair forums have sent a clear signal to the world: China remains unwavering in its commitment to expanding openness and advancing free trade. Centering on critical themes such as emerging market development, international trade compliance, the globalization of “Guochao” brands, and intellectual property standards, the forums brought together leading experts from key institutions including the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFCOM), Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Guangzhou Customs and others. These thought leaders provided authoritative policy interpretations and fostered consensus-building, projecting China’s vision of open cooperation and mutual benefit to the global business community.
Addressing Business Concerns with Actionable Insights
Closely focusing on the core issues currently faced by foreign trade companies, it not only deeply analyzes the global economic and trade situation and trade risks in key countries, but also covers practical content such as corporate risk response and logistics quality and efficiency improvement. From domestic policy interpretation to overseas market analysis, from sharing overseas experience to providing solutions, the topics are rich in level and professional, helping companies integrate into the global supply chain
02 Pioneering Solutions for High-Quality Trade Development
The 137th Canton Fair Forum closely followed the pulse of the times and released 11 results reports; the government, business, academia and research institutions worked together to empower enterprises to go global. A series of results with strategic guidance value provided strong support for China’s foreign trade to develop new opportunities in the crisis and open up new situations in the changing situation.
Forum Insights: Shaping Industry Futures
The forum released reports such as “China Foreign Trade Logistics Development Report”, “China Cross-border E-commerce B2B Export Development Report 2025”, “China Manufacturing Export International Business Environment Trends”, “WGSN 2026 Spring and Summer Accessories Trend Report”, and “Consumer Electronics Overseas Country Opportunity Insight White Paper”, providing guidance for foreign trade companies from multiple dimensions such as foreign trade logistics, digital trade, business environment, and fashion trends, helping companies to accurately grasp the development trends of the industry in a complex international market environment, providing useful reference for companies to cope with challenges, promoting the upgrading of the resilience of the industrial chain, and enhancing international competitiveness.
Financial “Catalyst” Nourishes Foreign Trade
During the forum, the government, enterprises, academia and banks worked together to promote significant cooperation results. The Guangdong Branch of the Bank of China, together with the Department of Commerce of Guangdong Province, issued the Action Plan of the Guangdong Branch of the Bank of China to Support the Stable Growth of Foreign Trade, focusing on solving the “urgent, difficult and anxious” problems of foreign trade enterprises; 7 institutions of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in the Bay Area jointly launched the “Initiative of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China to Serve the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area’s Going Global”, injecting strong financial momentum for the “going global” of enterprises in the Bay Area.
03 Forum-Service-Exhibition” Model Amplifies “Canton Fair Plus” Benefits
The forum not only invited experts and senior scholars from government departments and academic research circles, but also invited senior executives and business managers from industry leaders and representative companies. It was filled with important guests and the exchange of views was wonderful, fully demonstrating the think tank effect, circle effect, and exhibition promotion effect of “Canton Fair+”, highlighting the advantages of the forum in serving the exhibition.
“Canton Fair Plus” Think Tank Effect in Action
The topics of the 19 forums are supported by detailed data from 13 industry sectors of the 136th forum. In-depth surveys were conducted on 526 companies and more than 370 visitors, and on-site interviews were conducted with import and export chambers of commerce such as electromechanical, light industry, textiles, Minmetals, food and soil, and medical insurance. The theme was formulated around “specialization and precision, small and beautiful, focusing on the practicality and sense of gain of enterprises”. Data shows that about 2,600 visitors participated in the forum activities, with a satisfaction rate of over 90%. Accurate and authentic translation into English.
“Canton Fair Plus” Networking Synergy in Full Play
At the 137th Canton Fair Forum, many sharing guests came from exhibitors and resident institutions. Representatives from Bank of China, ICBC, China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation, Guangzhou Customs, PingPong, LianLian Global, and representatives from companies such as iFLYTEK, HIGOLD Group, Lingdu Intelligent, and Helium Robotics actively participated in sharing discussions, analyzing macro policies, and judging industry trends, giving full play to the unique advantages of the Canton Fair’s foreign trade circle.
“Canton Fair Plus” Exhibition Catalyst Effect
The forum activities are closely linked to the themes of “Advanced Manufacturing”, “Quality Home” and “Better Life”, and are designed around topics from the Canton Fair’s industry sectors such as electronic appliances, building materials and furniture, gifts and decorations, fashion, health and leisure. In particular, they target core issues such as trade compliance and market development that are of concern to most exhibitors, and strive to meet the various needs of exhibitors and buyers, and help foreign trade companies assess risks and seize business opportunities.
04 Trending Topics Shape Public Discourse: Amplifying Core Value Influence
The Canton Fair forum activities closely follow the topics of concern to the industry and enterprises, and carefully plan topics to form “out-of-the-box” topics that are both popular and down-to-earth, turning “passive response” into “active breakthrough”. The forum activities have been reported by more than 100 media outlets including CCTV, Xinhua News Agency, China News Service, China Daily Online, Global Times, Interface News, Beijing News, Southern Metropolis Daily, Yangcheng Evening News, Southern Finance, Electric Shock News, Guangzhou Daily, Guangzhou TV, Phoenix.com, Tencent, Sohu, Sina Finance, etc., continuously polishing the “golden signboard” of the Canton Fair.
Global Thought Leaders Converge at Canton Fair Forum
Zhang Yansheng, researcher at the Chinese Academy of Macroeconomic Studies, Song Yaoming, former economic and commercial minister of the Chinese Embassy in Japan and vice president of the National Association of Japanese Economics, Du Guochen, director of the E-Commerce Research Institute of the International Trade and Economic Cooperation Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce, Li Yongjian, director of the Institute of Finance and Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Bai Fan, general manager of GfK China Information Technology Products Division, Wu Tianxiang, chief analyst of Ebang Think Tank, and other important guests gathered to analyze and judge the high tariffs imposed by the United States, corporate response strategies, industrial transformation and new opportunities for going overseas, leading the topic of public opinion.
Premium Features Amplify Core Values: Experts Spark Global Dialogue”
Forum guests including Zhang Yansheng, Du Guochen, Li Yongjian, and Luo Qiuju were guests on CCTV’s live broadcast of “Canton Fair Guests of the World”, and jointly created the “Guests Have Something to Say” column with Southern Finance and Economics Media Group, launching exclusive interviews with 12 forum guests, focusing on the Canton Fair platform, helping companies find a way out in the midst of rising waves, showing that China’s development achievements give people confidence and hope, and continuously expanding the influence of mainstream values.
China’s door will only open wider, no matter how the international landscape evolves.
From the unique insights of academic authorities to the practical guidance of guest speakers, from the forward-looking vision of industry leaders to the policy support of institutional experts – every moment at the Canton Fair Forum showcases the resilience and confidence of China’s foreign trade.
In this era of uncertainty, we hope all enterprises can leverage the Canton Fair Forum to pioneer new paths, chart new chapters, and set sail toward the vast opportunities of global markets!
During routine operations, the Canton Fair will continue hosting online industry forums and will progressively release exclusive interviews and highlights from the 137th session’s forum speakers. Stay tuned for updates!
VIP enterprises, Canton Fair Design Innovation Award winners, and BC package subscribers of the Canton Fair’s online platform may download full reports free of charge. Please watch for service notifications.
Source: China Foreign Trade Center
