140th Canton Fair Opens With Smart and Green Innovation Front and Center

The 140th Canton Fair opened to visitors in Guangzhou on October 15, 2026, marking the 70th anniversary of the event. It covers 1.55 million square meters and runs in three phases through November 4, with innovation, green technology and smart manufacturing front and center.

The anniversary edition in numbers

More than 30,000 exhibiting companies and about 340,000 overseas buyers are expected across the three-phase run from October 15 to November 4. Long regarded as the barometer of China's foreign trade, this anniversary edition was pitched around four qualities: innovation, intelligence, greater specialization and higher quality.

The headline numbers: about 64 percent of exhibitors apply new technologies such as the industrial internet and artificial intelligence; new products account for 23.2 percent of exhibits and green products 26 percent, both record highs; and more than 700 new-product launch events are scheduled. Of the 32,000 exhibitors, more than 11,000 are specialized and sophisticated companies or industry leaders focused on niche markets.

Phase 1: advanced manufacturing

Phase 1, running October 15 to 19, is themed advanced manufacturing and occupies 520,000 square meters with more than 25,000 booths and over 12,000 exhibitors. It features 19 exhibition areas across five major sections, including electronics and household appliances and industrial automation, and highlights trends in new energy, smart manufacturing and embodied AI.

The phase also includes 17 dedicated zones for emerging and future industries, showcasing service robots, drones and advanced displays: a window onto closer supply-chain integration and the commercialization of new technologies. Smart life and robotics took the spotlight as the fair put intelligent devices at the center of the opening week.

A smarter fairground

Digital and intelligent operations have been upgraded too. The fair introduced 22 smart application scenarios and 16 AI features for the first time, and its booth-level navigation now covers the entire venue: a first for China's exhibition industry.

Zhu Yong, director of the China Foreign Trade Center, framed the mission: the fair works together with exhibitors and buyers to jointly uphold the multilateral trading system and promote the building of an open world economy.

Figures in this report come from the organiser and the outlets cited below. We have not independently re-counted attendance, orders or exhibitor numbers.