Trade relations between China and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Countries have quickened pace over the past few years where in the year 2005, over US$32 billion dollar worth of goods and services were traded. The United Arab Emirates’ share of this trade amounted to US$10 billion, which makes the UAE - and Dubai in specific - China’s largest trading partner in the region.
Figures from the October session of the Canton Fair reflect the importance of the upcoming April session where an estimated 192,691 visitors swarmed the venue 211 countries and regions with more than 14 thousands exhibitors , 31408 standard both , 282 thousand M2 net exhibition space and business turnover amounted to over US$34 billion.
With this in mind, businessmen from around the region are expected to flock to this year’s Chinese Export Commodities Fair, Canton Fair, now in its 1011h sessions, which will be held in mid April in Guangzhou China. The Canton Fair is made up of two sessions, one in April and another in October each year, and is deemed to be the biggest fair in China both in terms of the number of Chinese companies, and the number of international visitors participating in it.
Renee Wang, general manager of Dragon Century Tourism, believes that the Canton Fair is the most significant platform for regional businesspeople to meet and engage with Chinese business interests. “With the growing significance of trade with China over the past few years, we have seen an impressive uptake in the number of regional businesspeople, especially from the UAE, visiting the Canton Fair. Dragon Century Tourism has set up its services to target such business travelers providing them with all the services they require to make their trip more effective.”
Dragon Century Tourism is a Dubai & Beijing based company that aims to facilitate trade relations between China and the GCC. “We have developed valuable packages which include travel arrangements in leading international airlines, accommodation in 5 Star hotels as well as on the ground support including translation, guided tours and other business related services,” she continued.
The April session of the Canton Fair is the most significant one in its history. In terms of size, the Fair will cover an area of 576,000 square meters. From April 15th to 20th, the fair will focus on industrial products, textiles, garments, foot wear, medical and health products. From April 25th to 30th, the fair will focus on consumer goods, food and beverage, gifts, children’s toys, garden products, paper supplies, sport requisites and other consumer products.
