A foreign buyer learns about ceramic products during the second phase of the 140th Canton Fair in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, Oct. 23, 2026. (Xinhua/Lu Hanxin)
BEIJING, Oct. 29 (Xinhua Silk Road) -- The second phase of the 140th China Import and Export Fair kicked off last week, drawing not only bustling crowds to the exhibition halls but also streams of overseas buyers to factory floors.
Also known as the Canton Fair, the event this year demonstrates a seamless chain of booth negotiation, factory inspection and on-site match-making, bringing foreign visitors up close to the essence of China's advanced manufacturing industry.
-- New products growing more popular
The exhibition at the fair features categories including green building materials, integrated courtyard facilities, AI-powered products and fashion accessories. New products, green products and products with independent intellectual property rights account for 24.2 percent, 26.9 percent and 25.0 percent, respectively.
Many companies are winning favor with overseas buyers by combining innovation with daily-life scenarios. For instance, Guangdong Aican Technology Co., Ltd. brought the "robot chef" to the fair and demonstrated its cooking skills on site. The robot served braised meat in just over ten minutes and earned praise from buyers.
An exhibitor pointed out that overseas customers value high environmental standards, while demand for smart features is even more pronounced, adding that Asia-Pacific and neighboring markets show strong interest in China's one-stop smart solutions.
-- Smart manufacturing winning the crowd
During the fair, a growing number of overseas buyers chose to visit company factories after touring the exhibition.
At TCL's air-conditioning super factory in Nansha District of Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, the unmanned assembly lines amazed visiting buyers with their capability of rolling out one air conditioner every seven seconds.
While pursuing maximum efficiency, this super factory embeds green development throughout its operations, achieving full photovoltaic coverage of 50,000 square meters and equivalent-scale energy storage across the industrial park. During the first phase of the Canton Fair, the factory received 20 to 40 groups of business visitors each day, reflecting the fact that the company has been stepping up its efforts to expand overseas.
In fact, the emergence of super factories is a microcosm of the overall upgrading of Chinese manufacturing. With new-generation intelligent manufacturing as a main focus, China is deeply implementing the integration of AI technologies and manufacturing, bringing the industry to a new stage.
So far, the country has built more than 13,000 advanced-level smart factories and over 500 excellent-level ones. The efficiency gains of advanced manufacturing are spreading from the "showrooms" of individual companies to "common components" across industrial chains.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) is now drafting policy measures for next-generation smart manufacturing to deepen the integration of AI and manufacturing. The key is to promote the deep integration of AI technology with the entire manufacturing chain, enhancing the self-perception, self-decision-making and self-execution capabilities of equipment and systems, and exploring new manufacturing models to help enterprises reduce costs and improve efficiency, said Wang Weiming, MIIT chief engineer, at a recent press conference. (Edited by Yu Huichen with Xinhua Silk Road, yuhuichen@xinhua.org)
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