Canton Fair no longer 'silver bullet' for winning orders

A company representative at a vacuum cleaner stand talks to a visitor during the 115th China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, April 15, 2014. [Photo/dfic.cn]

Exporters are battling weak demand and technological hurdles, He Wei reports from Guangzhou

Gao Qiang had finished two packs of cigarettes before getting his first business card, from a Saudi Arabian buyer, at the Canton Fair, China's largest international trade event.

Gao, general manager of electronic toolmaker Wilon Tools Manufacturing Co Ltd in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, had not inked any deals on the fair's grand opening day, which would have been unthinkable five years ago.

Fair shadowed by weak exports

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"You expected a contract worth about $500,000 or even $1 million to be signed on the first day. You simply cannot get that now," said Gao, as he sipped coffee and gazed out at crowds that seemed much thinner than in previous years.

Weak demand and political turbulence have dampened Gao's export business to Thailand and Ukraine, with first-quarter orders slashed by half.

"Honestly, we don't expect the trend to be reversed simply by attending the exhibition," he said.

Chinese exporters have long sought to get more customers by taking part in the government-backed China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou, Guangdong province. But many are learning not to count on the event as a silver bullet for sales recovery.

The latest figures from the fair show that the exhibition is facing economic headwinds. The first phase of the 115th Canton Fair, held from April 15-19, attracted 101,198 foreign buyers. While slightly up from the autumn session, that number failed to match up to last year's spring session, and was mainly dragged down by a slump among European merchants, which have traditionally constituted a large share of buyers.

So Gao has seized every opportunity to salvage sales, including introducing some updated products.

Among those products, a handheld drill powered by a lithium battery rather than alternate current is starting to bear fruit. Gross profits were up by 25 percent, as opposed to 3 to 5 percent among the older ones.

"It's heartening to see a pickup in demand," he said.