A record number of overseas buyers attended China’s biggest trade fair, which concluded Sunday, though the value of their orders remained well below the all-time high, reports Caixin. A total of 246,000 foreign buyers showed up for the spring session of the biannual Canton Fair, up 24.5% from last year’s autumn session, official figures show. The value of the orders they placed rose 10.7% to $24.7 billion.
Established in 1957 in the southern metropolis Guangzhou, the Canton Fair makes a major contribution to China’s exports, and so is widely considered a barometer for the country’s foreign trade. The event has long attracted buyers from more than 200 countries and regions.
This year’s attendance was up 17% from the previous record high of nearly 210,000 reached in the spring session of 2012. The total value of their orders, however, was still 35% off the $37.9 billion high set during the autumn session of 2011.