Canton Fair ends with falling orders

The number of buyers at the Canton Fair, as well as the orders they placed, fell by 10% this autumn, Financial Times reported. Attendance figures at the biannual event, which sees buyers flock from around the world to buy China’s manufactured wares, are often taken as a barometer for the country’s export health. The orders, placed for next year, could signify a continued slowdown in China’s exports. Orders from the US and Europe fell by 9.4% and 10.5%, respectively, due to a sluggish economic recovery, China Securities Journal reported. Those from Japan slumped 36.6% largely on account of tension between China and Japan over a group of islands in the East China Sea. Orders from European buyers at the biannual event “are now for 300 to 500 items,” a saleswoman at a Wenzhou garment maker said. The figure comes in stark contrast to the some 5,000 items ordered three years ago.