Source: Provided by the interviewee

Two hours into the exhibition, the booth was already bustling with visitors; after 48 hours, what gains have Zhejiang merchants made?

On April 15th, the 135th China Import and Export Fair (hereinafter referred to as the "Canton Fair") opened as scheduled. Nearly 30,000 enterprises gathered in Guangzhou to participate in the offline exhibition, sparing no effort to secure orders and expand markets.

From "cost-performance ratio" to "quality-price ratio", from "OEM manufacturing" to "brand building"... If the Canton Fair is a kaleidoscope, what has each Zhejiang merchant seen through this small "aperture"?

Reporters focused on the figures of Zhejiang merchants at the Canton Fair, conducted exclusive interviews with responsible persons of enterprises such as Ruyi Co., Ltd. and Mailian Group, to understand their trends and explore the practices and expectations of Zhejiang merchants at the Canton Fair.

New Corporate Goals: Enhancing the International Market Influence of Zhejiang Merchants

The Canton Fair is an important stage for enterprises to showcase high-quality products and services, and also a key platform for Zhejiang's "sweet potato economy" (a model where local roots remain strong while branches extend widely) to thrive. Many Zhejiang merchant enterprises have seized the opportunity to enhance the "visibility" of their enterprises and products through displaying new and high-quality products, promote the transformation of exhibition products into commodities, and expand their global market share and influence. In addition, many new energy and new technology enterprises have made their debut at the Canton Fair to expand their company's influence in the international market.

As a second batch of national-level specialized, sophisticated, distinctive and innovative "little giant" enterprises, Zhejiang Taotao Vehicle Industry Co., Ltd. focuses on the R&D, production, sales and service of intelligent electric low-speed vehicles and special vehicles, and owns independent brands such as Gotrax and Tao Motor.

"We are veteran participants in the exhibition." Cao Matao, the company's chairman, told reporters that the company has participated in more than 10 sessions of the Canton Fair and is a full beneficiary.

Previously, the company stepped onto the world stage by leveraging the Canton Fair platform. Currently, more than 99% of its products are sold overseas, covering 78 countries and regions including the United States, Mexico, and Germany.

Cao Matao said that the company will display the Titan300 with unique appearance design and first-class driving experience, as well as the rugged and durable 550UTV utility terrain vehicle at the Canton Fair, to fully enhance the visibility of the enterprise and its products, broaden product sales channels, and further build the golden brand of Zhejiang brands in the global market.

Zhongguang Electric Appliance Group is a national high-tech enterprise with air-source heat pump technology as its core, integrating the R&D, production, sales and service of heat pump air conditioners, heat pump heating, heat pump hot water, water purification, fresh air, intelligent products and other products, and is also one of the leading enterprises in the domestic heat pump industry at present.

Participating in the Canton Fair is one of the important measures for the company's global strategic layout. We will actively explore overseas markets, accelerate the process of going global, and seize global business opportunities." Zhu Jianjun, chairman of Zhongguang Electric Appliance Group, introduced that he hopes to occupy a leading position in the overseas shared market through the Canton Fair, gain stronger competitiveness in the global supply chain, and contribute to the development of the green energy industry.

New Characteristics of the Exhibition: Shifting from "Cost-performance Ratio" to "Quality-price Ratio"

Ruyi Co., Ltd. is a seasoned "veteran", having been associated with the Canton Fair for 37 years. Chu Jiang, who took over from his father Chu Jiwang as the chairman of the company, has also dealt with the Canton Fair for 29 years.

For Chu Jiang, the gains from the Canton Fair are not only seizing more trade opportunities through the "going out" platform, but also deeply observing market demands and changes by relying on this window that showcases global trade trends.

Chu Jiang (first from right) poses for a photo with clients after talking at the booth. Source: Provided by the interviewee

Chu Jiang arrived in Guangzhou on the evening of April 14th. His original plan for the morning of the opening ceremony was: first go to his own booth to take charge, display his products, negotiate with merchants, carry out cooperation, then walk around other booths to see and chat, to understand the innovations of internationally advanced equipment and the highlights and breakthroughs of products in the same industry.

Unexpectedly, plans couldn't keep up with changes. Chu Jiang spent the entire morning engaging in conversations with new and old customers at the booth. However, it was precisely these conversations that made Chu Jiang deeply feel that customer demand is shifting from "cost-performance ratio" to "quality-price ratio".

Customers at the Canton Fair are more price-sensitive and attach great importance to cost-performance ratio, but from today's conversations, several customers have consistently shown high requirements for quality, and they all hope that our products have higher quality and reasonable prices." Chu Jiang mentioned that this is actually consistent with the performance of the industry and market in recent years. Low-price competition has no future, and only high-quality development is the answer. "Blindly sacrificing quality, reducing costs, and snatching customers by low prices will not lead enterprises far."

As a national high-tech enterprise, Ruyi Company continues to increase investment in science and technology and stands at the high ground of the industry. At present, the company has 117 full-time scientific research personnel, accounting for more than 10% of the total number of employees, who are distributed in various positions such as R&D and design, process design, trial production, and testing.

Chu Jiang told reporters that the products Ruyi Co., Ltd. brought this time have innovative improvements in function and appearance. "Innovations in function are easy to understand, as everyone's pursuit of high quality is consistent; innovations in appearance are because merchants participating in the Canton Fair in recent years have paid more and more attention to industrial design and products that can catch their eyes."

Since the opening, there has been an endless stream of customers coming to the booth to negotiate. Maintaining old customers and meeting new ones, the staff of Ruyi Co., Ltd. have been kept busy. Chu Jiang mentioned that when he took a taxi out earlier, he also heard a local taxi driver say, "I have picked up more people this year than last year, and business is better."

"However, I feel that in the three Canton Fairs from last year to this year, most of the merchants are from countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative." This made Chu Jiang feel worried, but he also said, "The key for merchants lies in quality rather than quantity. If they (Europe and the United States) don't come in, we will take the initiative to reach out to them, and send delegations to Europe and the United States to resolve their doubts."

As Chu Jiwang revealed in a previous interview, Ruyi Co., Ltd. has participated in expositions in 5 countries including the United States, Germany, Turkey, Singapore, and Russia in just two months (February and March). "Although the exhibition cost is as high as several million yuan, as long as we set out, it will never be a futile effort. You see, now our orders are fully booked until July. This is a very good trend."

Chen Junwei, Director of the European Region of Mailian Group, and Luo Chengfang, Director of the Middle East and Africa Region, also said that from the reception on the 15th, there are more foreign merchants at the Canton Fair this year compared with last year. Since the Mailian platform aims to connect domestic manufacturers with customers at home and abroad, they also pay special attention to the dynamics of domestic exhibitors.

"Our expectation is the same: to promote transactions." When talking about his expectations for the Canton Fair, Chu Jiang said, "The Canton Fair is like a sea, and we always hope to catch more fish with more nets."

New Expectations for Development: From "OEM Manufacturing" to "Brand Building"

The Canton Fair is like a kaleidoscope. Changes such as from "cost-performance ratio" to "quality-price ratio" and from "OEM manufacturing" to "brand building" all reflect the landscape of China's even the world's trade. Enterprises expand markets and meet demands here.

For Zhejiang Aibo Security Technology Co., Ltd., a "newcomer" to the exhibition, participating in the Canton Fair will help the company expand new tracks, so they actively expand recruitment and strengthen their "circle of friends".

"Our goal of participating in the Canton Fair for the first time is no longer just to get orders, but more to invite foreign customers to meet at the exhibition, promote new products, observe new market trends, and make more friends." Huang Taofeng, the company's sales director, expressed his expectations for the Canton Fair.

Chen Junwei, Director of the European Region of Mailian Group, observed that at this Canton Fair, more enterprises want to build their own brands or internationalize their own brands. "Manufacturers are also paying more attention to the R&D of innovative products, and there are more and more products with a sense of design."

For this Canton Fair, many participating enterprises are also full of ambition, bringing their respective "ace" products and using new ideas and new ways to attract merchants to stop, negotiate and cooperate.

And the "ace" product of Zhejiang Mailian Group participating in this exhibition is the platform itself.

As a B2F (Business to Factory) industrial service aggregation platform for hardware tools, Mailian not only has its own scientific research strength, but also shared brands. Therefore, for Mailian, all purchasers and exhibitors of all sizes in the exhibition hall, as long as they belong to the hardware tool industry, are potential customers.

On April 15th, only 2 hours after the opening of the Canton Fair, many new and old customers came to consult at Mailian Group's booth.

"We expect that through business investment promotion, we can help local brands go international. At the same time, for business purposes, we will promote our concept platform and advantages, the benefits of localizing industrial belts, and attract more like-minded partners to join our ecosystem through platform display of upstream and downstream investment promotion." Chen Junwei told reporters that they only participate in the first phase of the exhibition from April 15th to 19th.

Focusing on the Canton Fair's previous proposal to promote "Intelligent Manufacturing Going Global" and "Brand Going Global" in parallel, Xu Weiqiang, chairman of Mailian Group, said in an interview: "OEM manufacturing pursues low prices, so the smaller the booth, the better, with low costs. But now this era has returned to differentiation and personalized service. Being cheap alone is no longer useful. We should change our thinking, shift to brands, and shift to specialization, sophistication, differentiation and innovation."

Xu Weiqiang suggested that the Canton Fair should highlight booths, launch large booths of 100 square meters and 200 square meters, and promote the going global of China's intelligent manufacturing and Chinese brands.

It is worth noting that Mailian Group has cleverly taken advantage of the Canton Fair's momentum and relied on platform advantages to create the "Mailian Fair", aiming to allow manufacturers in the industry and merchants at home and abroad to "buy global and sell global" on this platform.

New "Expedition" Lineup: Large Scale and Strong Strength

According to the relevant person in charge of the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Commerce, Zhejiang merchant enterprises have shown a high enthusiasm for participating in this Canton Fair. The overall exhibition scale of Zhejiang enterprises has expanded again, and the number of booths has hit a record high.

Data shows that Zhejiang Province (including Zhejiang, Hangzhou and Ningbo trade delegations) has a total of more than 6,000 participating enterprises with 14,948 booths, accounting for about one-fifth of the total number of export exhibition booths nationwide, ranking among the top in the country in terms of the number of booths.

In addition to the increase in quantity, the quality of Zhejiang merchant enterprises participating in the exhibition has also improved significantly.

At this Canton Fair, the Zhejiang Provincial Trade Delegation has 800 specialized, sophisticated, distinctive and innovative enterprises at all levels, 1,537 national high-tech enterprises, and 4 China Time-honored Brand enterprises participating.

In addition, the number of brand booths has hit a new high, with a total of 4,391, accounting for about 30% of the total number of brand booths in the export exhibition, ranking first in the country.

It is worth noting that this Canton Fair has introduced new trade formats, and for the first time tried to set up a Cross-border E-commerce Comprehensive Pilot Zone and an Overseas Warehouse Exhibition Area, covering an area of 3,000 square meters.

To give full play to Zhejiang's first-mover advantages in new foreign trade formats such as cross-border e-commerce and overseas warehouses, the Zhejiang Provincial Trade Delegation recommended Hangzhou Comprehensive Pilot Zone and more than 40 enterprises to participate in the cross-border e-commerce exhibition area with a booth area of 420 square meters; recommended 5 enterprises to participate in the overseas warehouse exhibition area with a booth area of 90 square meters; both areas rank first in the country in terms of area.

Editor: Wang Jiapeng; Responsible Editor: Zhang Xiaolin