The Canton Fair has become the most comprehensive trade event in China since its inception in 1957 and the recent move to the larger Pazhou Complex should help with its ever-increasing expansion. Held twice per year (Spring and Autumn) in Guanzhou, China’s “Flower City”, the fair has the largest scale, the widest variety of exhibits (nearly 20,000) and the most business turnover from nearly 200,000 buyers and expects even higher figures every year. Instead of the traditional two phases, this year’s edition will be broken into three. Industries are scheduled to present in their respective phases, with each phase running for 5 days from October 15th to November 6th. Many foreign businessmen would go to attend Canton fair to find business opportunities there.
The Canton Fair has been held in the Pazhou complex since 2008. Thus living near the Pazhou complex will save you a lot of time on commuting between your hotels and the Fair. But since Pazhou is in the suburb of Guangzhou, you will have to take a long drive to the downtown.
The Pazhou Complex was opened in 2002 and it is located in Pazhou island, the southern part of Guangzhou. It is now one of the venues for the China Export Commodities Fair (or “Canton Fair”). The Pazhou Complex has 16 indoor exhibition halls on the first and the second floors and can be cover up to 10,200 exhibition spaces. It has an indoor exhibition area of 160,000 sqm and an outdoor exhibition area of 22,000sqm.
The Pazhou Complex is accessible by either the Pazhou or XinGangDong metro station, both on line 8. XinGangDong is closer to Area A of the Canton Fair while the Pazhou station is closer to Area B and C. Upon exiting the station, you can find signs to signs to direct you to registration to pick up your ID badge. To enter the Canton Fair, you typically need to provide ordinary information about your business such as annual revenue and a business card. Typically most exhibitors will have English-speaking staff at the booth but may not have interpreters outside of the Canton Fair.