China’s leading trade fair, better known as Canton Fair ended successfully yesterday under the shadow of the deteriorating global economic recession.

The Canton Fair, with a history of 52 years, opened with the world's close attention as a barometer for China's import and export situation. The export agreements for more than 20,000 Chinese companies reached US$26 billion at the 105th China Import and Export from April 15 to May 7, down 16.9 percent compared to the previous fair last October, said the fair's organizers. More than 165,000 oversea buyers attended the fair, down 5.1 percent from the previous fair.

Many exhibitors hope to take Canton Fair as a platform to explore more business opportunities amid the global downturn. Although the deals in Europe and America, the major markets for China are down compared to the previous fair, the agreements increased in some new markets. The exports of China to Argentina, India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations rose 10, six and seven percent respectively.

The 105th Canton Fair closed on 7th May, 2009.

“Chinese companies are trying to explore new markets while old ones are shrinking,” said Mu Xinhai, the spokesperson of Canton Fair. “Canton Fair is worth attending despite sluggish global economy. We get to know a lot of enterprises, expand our business and explore new market resources,” a businessman for office supplies in Singapore said. The clients of our company (HRC Worldwide) who are from Brazil also told us: “The Canton Fair held in this special time actually presents a valuable opportunity for us. We find many high quality products with reasonable price in China this time.”

Souce: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn