The 111th China Import and Export Fair, or Canton Fair, was held from April 15 to May 5. During the event, Shanxi trading group secured a cumulative turnover of $173 million with 131 exhibitors and 448 booths.

In category, the mechanical and electrical products scored $82.58 million, accounting for 47.5 percent of total turnover; light industrial products $57.74 million, or 33.2 percent of turnover; construction and decoration materials, sanitary equipment, and chemical products reaped $ 18.35 million, or 10.6 percent of the total, and $ 15.12 million for other categories of products, accounting for 8.7 percent of total sum.

As China’s largest international trade fair, this year’s Canton Fair attracted more than 210 thousand merchants from 213 countries and regions.

The top three countries or regions in terms of volume of business were the European Union, the Middle East, and the United States. The top three transacted commodities are hardware tools, glassware, and construction and decoration materials.

The relevant person in charge explained that according to the statistics of the organizing committee, this year’s total turnover is 36.03 billion U.S. dollars; a 2.3 percent decrease over the same period of last year. For Shanxi province, the number is 173 million U.S. dollars, a decrease of 6.3 percent compared to that of the 110th fair.

Many buyers in this fair were cautious in placing orders under the impact of the repeated European debt crisis. Other negative factors, such as the weak demand of major consumer markets and high unemployment in developed countries also came into play. The exhibiting companies, on the other hand, were reluctant to take long-term orders in fear of the price rise in raw material as well as exchange rate fluctuations.