Foreign buyers dwindle at Canton Fair

Cautious outlook

Statistics from the organizers confirmed the impressions of vendors and buyers.

During the first four days of the fair, the number of buyers attending fell by 11.4 percent from the previous session in the spring.

A closer look at the statistics shows machinery and electronic goods, a mainstay of China's exports, registered a slower growth rate during this session, with transaction values with Europe down 23.1 percent and even Africa, a traditional booming market, sliding 0.1 percent.

But against this overall bleak backdrop, some industries and enterprises have delivered better results.

Zhang Wenxiao, a sales manager of Vtrek Group, a car audio & video product manufacturer based in Guangzhou, said business was as good as usual, with the company's products selling well in all world markets.

"If you divide the foreign trade into sectors, you can see not all sectors are that bad," he said.

Farhad Hosseini, an Iranian buyer, said China's products remain attractive.

"The good thing about China's products is they offer a variety of choices, from high price to medium price to low price," he said. "The problem is our payment ability. Because of international sanctions, our liquidity is greatly constrained."

Many exporters also complain about delayed payments from foreign buyers.

"Delayed payment has always been a problem," Zhang from Vtrek Group said. "We also have to wait a long period for the arrival of the tax rebate. So though business is generally good, we are always short of cash."

The government is aware of these problems.

In September, to boost foreign trade, the State Council issued a series of measures, including speeding up export tax rebates, reducing administrative costs for companies, lowering financing costs for small and micro-sized enterprises and increasing credit to exporters.

But it has also sounded a note of caution about the effect of these measures.

Fair spokesman Liu said exporters' business would not change overnight but there are hopes they will be cushioned and have more time to transform and upgrade their businesses. "We have a grim outlook for China's foreign trade in the coming months as the world economy keeps declining," Liu said.

zhengyangpeng@chinadaily.com.cn