GRAND GATHERING: Streams of attendees flow in the exhibition hall on April 23, the first day of the second phase of the Canton Fair (LIANG XU)

With towering machines displayed at its 18-square-meter show booths at the 113th Canton Fair, Sunrise Packaging Machinery Group signed a dozen orders with foreign businesses from Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the United States.

"The number of customers and clients at the fair is up from the previous year," said Gu Xuejuan, corporate representative of the group, a Tianjin-based machinery manufacturer which has attended the Canton Fair for 11 years.

Expanding from a small plant with six workers to becoming a leading local private enterprise with over 200 workers, Sunrise attributes its success to its trade relationships with foreign enterprises. "We learned management skills and technology from our European trade partners who got to know us at events like the Canton Fair," said Gu, who couldn't conceal her excitement at a new trade partnership with a prominent Kuwaiti food producer, which claims to be backed by that country's royal family.

With economic uncertainty as the norm in Europe and the United States, orders are racking up from buyers in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Latin America.

"The value of deals we signed during the first five days of the fair were slightly up over the previous year with a drop in the European and American markets, and is expected to account for 20 percent of total foreign orders for the whole year," said Chantal Ren, Vice General Manager of Taishan Aison Electrical Co. Ltd., a manufacturer of small household appliances. Although China's exports are bouncing back, driven by buyers from non-traditional markets, this round of the Canton Fair leaves many wondering on how long the export train can last in the face of labor shortages and a rising yuan.

The fair

The Canton Fair, or China Import and Export Fair, is the country's largest biannual trade event and widely known as a barometer of its exports. It has been held in the spring and autumn each year since 1957 in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, an export powerhouse in the south directly north of Hong Kong. The Canton Fair is organized in three phases with each season based on product categories.

An official electronic commerce platform E-CantonFair.com was launched on the opening day of the fair. The system includes a credit index for suppliers and buyers based on data sources from the government, banks, commerce associations and credit insurance organizations.

"In the past, we relied on the fair to meet new clients and secure orders. Now it serves more as a platform to promote our brands and corporate culture," said Zhang Ye, Deputy General Manager of the International Marketing Department at Hisense Group, an electronics manufacturer.

"With diversified sales channels for Chinese exports, we can expect more transactions to occur after the fair," said Liu Jianjun, spokesman for the fair and Deputy Director of the China Foreign Trade Center in Guangzhou.

About 200,000 overseas buyers are expected to attend the fair, which was opened on April 15 and will last until May 5. The first phase centered on electronics and household electrical appliances, lighting equipment, vehicles, spare parts and machinery. According to organizers of the fair, attendees had by April 18 risen 10.5 percent compared with the 112th session, but decreased by 2.2 percent year on year with traders from Europe, the United States and Japan declining 3.7 percent, 1.8 percent and 13.8 percent respectively.

A survey by Jiangsu Trading Delegation showed the number of the fair visitors had increased remarkably from Middle East, Russia, Turkey, South America and Southeast Asia, but the willingness to place orders directly was stagnated.