Collecting Your Buyer Badge: where, when and what to bring

The Buyer Badge is the only document that gets you through the gates of the Canton Fair Complex. Where the free registration offices are, what to carry, and when collecting saves you a queue.

Why the badge is the only document that matters

The Buyer Badge is the only document that opens the gates of the Canton Fair Complex. The invitation letter supports a visa application; it does not admit you to the halls, and the two documents travel through entirely different systems.

Every overseas buyer registers for the badge through the Buyer Service System before collecting it. The badge carries your name, passport and photo against the registration record, which is why the halls stay limited to trade visitors rather than the general public.

Five places to collect, all free

The organiser runs badge application offices in five locations around the Fair: Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, Guangzhou South Railway Station, Pazhou Ferry Terminal, designated hotels in Guangzhou, and the Canton Fair Hong Kong Representative Office. Collecting the badge is free for overseas buyers.

The airport and railway offices are the natural first stop for buyers flying in from outside mainland China: you can land, clear immigration and register before the city. The Pazhou Ferry Terminal office serves buyers arriving from Hong Kong and Macao by sea.

The on-site registration counter at the Complex handles the largest crowd in the first two days of each phase, which is exactly why the off-site offices exist: use them when your itinerary allows.

What to carry

Carry the passport you registered with. The badge is issued against the registration record, and the name on the badge must match the passport you present at the counter.

Bring the pre-registration confirmation on your phone or printed. Counter staff look up your record by e-mail address or registration number, not by name alone.

One badge per person: the badge is not transferable between travel companions, and each buyer in a group registers and collects separately.

When to collect

Buyer Badges open at 9:30 on exhibition days, half an hour after exhibitor entry at 9:00. The gates and halls are already moving by then, so the badge queue is at its shortest in that first half hour.

Collecting the day before your first phase, at an airport or railway office, removes the biggest single queue from your first morning in the halls. The first two days of a phase and the morning after a phase change are the two peaks to avoid.

If anything on the badge is wrong, the on-site counter at the Complex is the place to fix it: off-site offices issue and hand over, but corrections run through the on-site desk.

When something goes wrong

No pre-registration is not a dead end, but it is a queue: walk-up registration is handled at the on-site counter subject to availability, so completing pre-registration before you fly is the single time-saving step that never fails.

A name that does not match your passport delays you at the counter. Check the registration record against the passport before you leave for the Fair, not at the desk.

One badge covers your whole visit; carry it visibly and keep it safe, since a re-issue means going back through the on-site counter.

Registration offices, the free-of-charge rule and entry times come from the organiser's official documents. Timing strategy and queue advice are our own.