139th Canton Fair to open with record exhibition scale--Chin

BEIJING, April 10 (Xinhua) -- The 139th edition of the China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, is scheduled to take place from April 15 to May 5 in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, with its exhibition space, number of booths and participating enterprises all reaching record highs, the Ministry of Commerce said on Friday.

The fair will cover 1.55 million square meters and feature 75,700 booths and more than 32,000 participating enterprises, with around 3,900 first-time exhibitors, Wang Zhihua, an official with the ministry, told a press conference.

The number of exhibition zones will increase to 179, including nine new sections covering smart wearables, display technologies, among others.

As of Thursday, 290 leading purchasing enterprises had confirmed their participation, marking a 30 percent year-on-year increase. The list includes global retail giants such as Walmart from the United States, Tesco from Britain, and Carrefour from France.

Zhu Yong, head of the China Foreign Trade Center, said that buyer attendance has continued to expand both in terms of scale and quality. Preregistration has been driven mainly by new buyers, whose number has risen by 20 percent year on year, while participation willingness among existing buyers remains stable.

Established in 1957, the Canton Fair is held twice a year in Guangzhou. It is the longest-running of several comprehensive international trade events in China, and has been hailed as the barometer of China's foreign trade.