China's time-honored trade fair opens online amid pandemic

China's time-honored trade fair, the China Import and Export Fair, opened online Friday with a record number of exhibits amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 10-day event, also known as the Canton Fair, has attracted over 25,500 domestic and overseas exhibitors. It will offer them a variety of online services such as online showcases, business exchanges and product launches.

Participating companies have submitted more than 2.9 million exhibits, including over 900,000 new products and more than 480,000 green and low carbon products, all record highs, said Xu Bing, spokesperson for the fair.

Its import section hosts over 400 enterprises from 32 countries and regions with products in such sectors as household appliances, food, and home textiles.

The spring session includes online exhibitions, market match-making and cross-border e-commerce. It will introduce new services involving China-Europe freight trains and shipping, as well as new business forms such as cross-border e-commerce and overseas warehousing.

Organizers expect the online fair to help boost foreign trade and stabilize the global supply chain hit hard by the pandemic.

Held since 1957, the fair is organized twice a year to facilitate global trade.