Recovery in Mechanical and Electrical Product Transactions: Remarkable Market Growth in Countries along the Belt and Road
Release Date:2026-06-23 Source: Views:86
Recovery of Mechanical and Electrical Product Deals: Substantial Growth in Markets of Countries Along the Belt and Road
The Canton Fair is regarded as a barometer and weather vane for China's foreign trade, and its transaction volume is deemed a reflection of export performance in the subsequent six months. Therefore, judging from the first-quarter customs statistics and the transaction results of the Canton Fair, the goal of 6% annual growth in foreign trade set forth in the government work report earlier this year will be an arduous task to achieve.
The 117th Canton Fair concluded on May 5. Although the number of participating buyers and overall turnover failed to reverse the downward trend, transactions of mechanical and electrical products edged up from the previous session. The number of buyers from Belt and Road countries rose, with their transaction value surging sharply.
Liu Jianjun, spokesperson for the Canton Fair, briefed the media at the closing press conference that the 117th Canton Fair attracted 184,801 buyers, down 0.7% from the 116th session. Total export turnover reached RMB 172.096 billion (equivalent to USD 28.056 billion), a year-on-year drop of 9.64% compared with the 2014 Spring Canton Fair. This figure was largely in line with the import and export data released by the General Administration of Customs for the first quarter.
The Canton Fair is regarded as a barometer and weather vane for China's foreign trade, and its transaction volume is deemed a reflection of export performance in the subsequent six months. Therefore, judging from the first-quarter customs statistics and the transaction results of the Canton Fair, the goal of 6% annual growth in foreign trade set forth in the government work report earlier this year will be an arduous task to achieve.
Rebound in Transactions of Mechanical and Electrical Products
As the largest transaction category at the Canton Fair, mechanical and electrical products racked up USD 7.37 billion in cumulative deals in the first three days of the fair, compared with USD 6.44 billion in the same period of the last session.
Based on extensive surveys among exhibitors conducted by the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products (CCCME), the Export Prosperity Index for mechanical and electrical products at the 117th Canton Fair stood at 52.3, indicating an overall improving operating status for manufacturers, albeit amid mounting growth pressures.
Home appliances and consumer electronics still posted the steepest declines. Their combined turnover hit USD 3.5 billion, accounting for 47.5% of total mechanical and electrical product transactions. Within this segment, home appliance sales totaled USD 2.84 billion, falling by 5.4%, while consumer electronics reached USD 670 million, a plunge of 34.1%.
Nevertheless, the rate of decline narrowed noticeably. In the corresponding period of the 116th Canton Fair, home appliances and consumer electronics recorded USD 2.69 billion in deals, with home appliances slumping 27.7% and consumer electronics plummeting 55.0%.
All in all, mechanical and electrical products remained a bright spot driving foreign trade growth. According to the first-quarter import and export figures released by the General Administration of Customs in April, trade volume of mechanical and electrical products hit USD 479.15 billion, making up 53.0% of China’s total merchandise trade value for the period and rising 2.7% year on year, 8.8 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate of all commodities. Exports alone amounted to USD 296.67 billion, accounting for 57.7% of total merchandise exports and growing 6.4% year on year.
CCCME held the view that China’s exports of mechanical and electrical products still lack stable drivers for rapid expansion, yet projected a 6% to 7% growth for the full year 2015, with import growth slightly trailing exports, sustaining a medium-to-high growth trajectory.
Notably, among core markets for mechanical and electrical products, countries along the Belt and Road saw dramatic transaction increases, with aggregate turnover reaching USD 2.65 billion. Vietnam contributed USD 160 million, skyrocketing by 222.3%. Other Belt and Road economies including Brunei, Uzbekistan, Syria and Serbia all registered growth rates exceeding 100%.
By contrast, dragged by factors such as two-way fluctuations in the RMB exchange rate, exports of mechanical and electrical products to Japan, Russia and the United States suffered sharp drops of 31.4%, 30% and 25.9% respectively.
Rising Number of Buyers from Belt and Road Countries
To navigate the complex global economic landscape, the fair’s organizer rolled out multiple innovative outreach initiatives to bolster buyer recruitment for this session. Measures included leveraging modern information technology to host global online video recruitment campaigns, expanding the program that encourages existing exhibitors and veteran buyers to refer new purchasers, and partnering with airlines on the New Silk Road Experience – Fly Direct to the Canton Fair with Emirates campaign to cut travel costs for overseas attendees.
Even so, organizers had told the media at the opening of the fair that they anticipated a mild drop in overseas buyer attendance.
Closing statistics showed the 117th Canton Fair hosted 184,801 buyers from 216 countries and regions, a 0.7% decrease from the 116th edition. A standout highlight was the 80,954 buyers hailing from Belt and Road economies, representing a 0.8% year-on-year increase and accounting for 43.81% of all registered visitors.
Furthermore, the fair held its first matchmaking event linking overseas exhibitors in the Import Pavilion with enterprises from the Guangdong Pilot Free Trade Zone. Li Jinqi, Deputy Director and Secretary-General of the Canton Fair and Director of China Foreign Trade Centre, stated that the event would fully integrate high-quality overseas resources from the fair’s Import Pavilion with the geographic and institutional strengths of the Guangdong Free Trade Zone, helping build a robust economic corridor along the Belt and Road.
The fair also launched a Canton Fair New Product Launch Center on its e-commerce platform, delivering new products, technologies and designs from Chinese enterprises to global buyers in a timely, targeted and efficient manner. During the exhibition period, newly registered buyers on the Canton Fair e-commerce website grew by more than 15%. The two-year-old official Canton Fair e-commerce platform also maintained sound operational momentum. Liu Jianjun pointed out that the long-standing Canton Fair, with over 20,000 participating enterprises, is characterized by bulk transactions, solid market credibility and effective integration of offline physical trade and online digital channels. With tailored policy support and improved supporting infrastructure, the platform is expected to break new ground for large-scale cross-border e-commerce in China.
However, Song Chao, Vice President of Canton Fair E-Commerce Co., Ltd., commented that the current version of the platform only performs basic front-end functions such as online inquiries within the foreign trade transaction chain. He revealed that a full-scale overhaul and upgrade is underway, with the revamped platform scheduled to debut at the 118th Canton Fair. The new iteration will offer one-stop full industrial chain services, enabling enterprises to resolve payment, production, logistics, customs declaration and export tax rebate procedures in a streamlined process.
Recovery of Mechanical and Electrical Product Deals: Substantial Growth in Markets of Countries Along the Belt and Road
The Canton Fair is regarded as a barometer and weather vane for China's foreign trade, and its transaction volume is deemed a reflection of export performance in the subsequent six months. Therefore, judging from the first-quarter customs statistics and the transaction results of the Canton Fair, the goal of 6% annual growth in foreign trade set forth in the government work report earlier this year will be an arduous task to achieve.
The 117th Canton Fair concluded on May 5. Although the number of participating buyers and overall turnover failed to reverse the downward trend, transactions of mechanical and electrical products edged up from the previous session. The number of buyers from Belt and Road countries rose, with their transaction value surging sharply.
Liu Jianjun, spokesperson for the Canton Fair, briefed the media at the closing press conference that the 117th Canton Fair attracted 184,801 buyers, down 0.7% from the 116th session. Total export turnover reached RMB 172.096 billion (equivalent to USD 28.056 billion), a year-on-year drop of 9.64% compared with the 2014 Spring Canton Fair. This figure was largely in line with the import and export data released by the General Administration of Customs for the first quarter.
The Canton Fair is regarded as a barometer and weather vane for China's foreign trade, and its transaction volume is deemed a reflection of export performance in the subsequent six months. Therefore, judging from the first-quarter customs statistics and the transaction results of the Canton Fair, the goal of 6% annual growth in foreign trade set forth in the government work report earlier this year will be an arduous task to achieve.
Rebound in Transactions of Mechanical and Electrical Products
As the largest transaction category at the Canton Fair, mechanical and electrical products racked up USD 7.37 billion in cumulative deals in the first three days of the fair, compared with USD 6.44 billion in the same period of the last session.
Based on extensive surveys among exhibitors conducted by the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products (CCCME), the Export Prosperity Index for mechanical and electrical products at the 117th Canton Fair stood at 52.3, indicating an overall improving operating status for manufacturers, albeit amid mounting growth pressures.
Home appliances and consumer electronics still posted the steepest declines. Their combined turnover hit USD 3.5 billion, accounting for 47.5% of total mechanical and electrical product transactions. Within this segment, home appliance sales totaled USD 2.84 billion, falling by 5.4%, while consumer electronics reached USD 670 million, a plunge of 34.1%.
Nevertheless, the rate of decline narrowed noticeably. In the corresponding period of the 116th Canton Fair, home appliances and consumer electronics recorded USD 2.69 billion in deals, with home appliances slumping 27.7% and consumer electronics plummeting 55.0%.
All in all, mechanical and electrical products remained a bright spot driving foreign trade growth. According to the first-quarter import and export figures released by the General Administration of Customs in April, trade volume of mechanical and electrical products hit USD 479.15 billion, making up 53.0% of China’s total merchandise trade value for the period and rising 2.7% year on year, 8.8 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate of all commodities. Exports alone amounted to USD 296.67 billion, accounting for 57.7% of total merchandise exports and growing 6.4% year on year.
CCCME held the view that China’s exports of mechanical and electrical products still lack stable drivers for rapid expansion, yet projected a 6% to 7% growth for the full year 2015, with import growth slightly trailing exports, sustaining a medium-to-high growth trajectory.
Notably, among core markets for mechanical and electrical products, countries along the Belt and Road saw dramatic transaction increases, with aggregate turnover reaching USD 2.65 billion. Vietnam contributed USD 160 million, skyrocketing by 222.3%. Other Belt and Road economies including Brunei, Uzbekistan, Syria and Serbia all registered growth rates exceeding 100%.
By contrast, dragged by factors such as two-way fluctuations in the RMB exchange rate, exports of mechanical and electrical products to Japan, Russia and the United States suffered sharp drops of 31.4%, 30% and 25.9% respectively.
Rising Number of Buyers from Belt and Road Countries
To navigate the complex global economic landscape, the fair’s organizer rolled out multiple innovative outreach initiatives to bolster buyer recruitment for this session. Measures included leveraging modern information technology to host global online video recruitment campaigns, expanding the program that encourages existing exhibitors and veteran buyers to refer new purchasers, and partnering with airlines on the New Silk Road Experience – Fly Direct to the Canton Fair with Emirates campaign to cut travel costs for overseas attendees.
Even so, organizers had told the media at the opening of the fair that they anticipated a mild drop in overseas buyer attendance.
Closing statistics showed the 117th Canton Fair hosted 184,801 buyers from 216 countries and regions, a 0.7% decrease from the 116th edition. A standout highlight was the 80,954 buyers hailing from Belt and Road economies, representing a 0.8% year-on-year increase and accounting for 43.81% of all registered visitors.
Furthermore, the fair held its first matchmaking event linking overseas exhibitors in the Import Pavilion with enterprises from the Guangdong Pilot Free Trade Zone. Li Jinqi, Deputy Director and Secretary-General of the Canton Fair and Director of China Foreign Trade Centre, stated that the event would fully integrate high-quality overseas resources from the fair’s Import Pavilion with the geographic and institutional strengths of the Guangdong Free Trade Zone, helping build a robust economic corridor along the Belt and Road.
The fair also launched a Canton Fair New Product Launch Center on its e-commerce platform, delivering new products, technologies and designs from Chinese enterprises to global buyers in a timely, targeted and efficient manner. During the exhibition period, newly registered buyers on the Canton Fair e-commerce website grew by more than 15%. The two-year-old official Canton Fair e-commerce platform also maintained sound operational momentum. Liu Jianjun pointed out that the long-standing Canton Fair, with over 20,000 participating enterprises, is characterized by bulk transactions, solid market credibility and effective integration of offline physical trade and online digital channels. With tailored policy support and improved supporting infrastructure, the platform is expected to break new ground for large-scale cross-border e-commerce in China.
However, Song Chao, Vice President of Canton Fair E-Commerce Co., Ltd., commented that the current version of the platform only performs basic front-end functions such as online inquiries within the foreign trade transaction chain. He revealed that a full-scale overhaul and upgrade is underway, with the revamped platform scheduled to debut at the 118th Canton Fair. The new iteration will offer one-stop full industrial chain services, enabling enterprises to resolve payment, production, logistics, customs declaration and export tax rebate procedures in a streamlined process.
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