CBN丨136th Canton Fair concludes with successful showcase of China's active role in global trade

Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.

Coming up on today’s program

• The autumn session of the biannual Canton Fair wraps up with record international buyer attendance;
• Huawei's upcoming Mate 70 ignites consumer enthusiasm.

Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours

The 136th Canton Fair, officially known as the China Import and Export Fair, concluded on Monday in Guangzhou, south China, which ran from October 15 to November 4. 

The fair recorded a historic high in terms of overseas buyer attendance, according to data from the organizers. As of Sunday, a total of 253,000 overseas buyers from 214 countries and regions had attended the event, marking an increase of 2.8 percent compared to the previous edition held from April 15 to May 5 this year.

Buyers from countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) accounted for over 60 percent of the attendance. The number of buyers from Middle East countries grew the most, reaching 34,000 or a surge of 32.6 percent compared with the previous edition. There was also a notable rise in the number of buyers from the United States and European countries, with 54,000 attending, an 8.2-percent increase from the previous edition.

The intended turnover of export transactions at this session reached USD24.95 billion, 1 percent higher than the previous session. Notably, transactions with Belt and Road partner countries accounted for more than half of this total, while transaction volumes involving buyers from Europe and the United States both logged growth.

Themed "Serving high-quality development, promoting high-level opening up," the 136th Canton Fair featured more than 30,000 exhibitors showcasing 1.15 million new products.

The Canton Fair is renowned for its comprehensive range of products and exhibitors from China and around the world, alongside a vast number of buyers and visitors eager to establish new business ties and explore opportunities.

The fair underscores China's vitality and resilience in foreign trade through a growing number of new products, increased international participation, and a diverse range of trade services and models.

• The Ministry of Commerce said on Monday that China appealed to the World Trade Organization against the European Union's final ruling to impose countervailing measures on China-made electric vehicles. This complaint follows China's earlier appeal to the WTO regarding the EU's preliminary anti-subsidy measures on Chinese EVs. China strongly opposes the EU's final decision to impose high countervailing duties on Chinese-made EVs, despite widespread objections from multiple stakeholders, including EU member states, industries and the public, said the ministry's spokesperson in an online statement.

• The 7th China International Import Expo (CIIE) officially opened in Shanghai on Tuesday and will run till Sunday. Shanghai's first deal at the 7th China International Import Expo was sealed around 1:30pm on Tuesday and involved a procurement order worth US$50 million. The first order of the Shanghai trading group at this year's CIIE was signed between HIWIN Motion Control and System Technology, based in Qingpu District, and exhibitor HIWIN GmbH, a globally renowned professional manufacturer of motion control products and system technology products.

Greater Bay Area, Greater future

• China’s first low-altitude meteorological industrial cluster has taken shape in Shenzhen, in an another bid for the city to tap into the low-altitude economy. In the next step, the meteorological authority will integrate supports to ensure low-altitude flight safety, aircraft manufacturing, airworthiness certification, flight control, and airspace division. At the same time, the overall management of low-altitude meteorological monitoring and forecasting services should be strengthened within the industry.
• Chinese smartphone giant Oppo and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) have renewed a collaborative framework agreement, which involves the launch of a joint innovation research centre for artificial intelligence imaging technology in the city. Oppo pledged no less than 30 million yuan in funding over the next five years to deepen collaborative efforts with PolyU on AI imaging technology, as well as for expanding the scale of co-training for PhD and postdoctoral researchers.

Next on industry and company news

• News of the upcoming launch of Huawei's Mate 70 series smartphones quickly became a trending topic on Weibo on Monday. Yu Chengdong, Huawei's executive director, said on the Chinese social media platform that the company is set to launch "the most powerful Mate in history" in November. The post didn't reveal any further details about the smartphone. The market expects the new phone to feature the latest HarmonyOS NEXT  - Huawei's recently launched operating system widely reported as the first fully homegrown mobile OS in China.
• Foxconn, the world's leading electronics manufacturer, is set to build a new business headquarters in Zhengzhou, central China. Foxconn's planned headquarters will feature a construction area of approximately 70,000 square meters in its first phase, with an investment of 1 billion yuan. The company has not yet provided a groundbreaking date.
• StarCharge, China’s second-largest provider of charging equipment for EVs, is stepping up its overseas expansion plans amid rising tensions in Europe over tariffs on Chinese-made cars. The company signed an agreement with French group Schneider Electric to form a venture in Europe to drive the electrification of the continent’s automotive industry, a company official said. The venture aims to deliver EV charging infrastructure, photovoltaic inverters, chargers and storage systems in the market.

Earnings reports express

• China’s four state-owned power generation companies, China Datang, China Guodian, China Huadian and China Huaneng, raked in hefty net profits amounting to 29.2 billion yuan in the first nine months, buoyed by tumbling fuel prices, but the Big Four warned that electricity prices are dropping as more energy from renewable sources enters the grid. On average, electricity prices slumped between 1.46 percent and 3.98 percent in the first nine months from a year earlier to between 438 yuan per megawatt hour and 510 yuan/MWh at the four firms.

Wrapping up with a quick look at the stock market

• Chinese shares rallied after a private gauge of China's services sector showed a strong October reading, adding to recent signs that Beijing's stimulus push is revitalizing the world's second-largest economy. The benchmark Shanghai Composite surged 2.3 percent and the Shenzhen Component soared 3.2 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index also closed 2.1 percent higher, and the TECH index jumped 3.6 percent.

Executive Editor: Sonia YU

Editor: LI Yanxia

Host: Stephanie LI

Writer: Stephanie LI

Sound Editor: Stephanie LI

Graphic Designer: ZHENG Wenjing, LIAO Yuanni

Produced by 21st Century Business Herald Dept. of Overseas News.

Presented by SFC

编委:  于晓娜

策划、编辑：李艳霞 

播音：李莹亮

撰稿：李莹亮

音频制作：李莹亮

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