The Canton Fair is not one exhibition but three in succession, each with a different theme and different exhibitors. The first phase belongs to advanced manufacturing: machinery, tools, electronics, vehicles and new energy sources. That is where the automotive sector and everything around it is, so this is the phase we chose for ourselves.
We went to Guangzhou without a stand of our own, as visitors. This has its advantages: you can walk the halls at your leisure, talk to exhibitors, compare solutions and return to those that caught our eye. At a fair of this size, in a few days you can do what would otherwise take many trips.
The Canton Fair: A Trade Fair Bigger Than Many a City
The Canton Fair, formally the China Import and Export Fair, has been held since 1957, twice a year, in spring and autumn, in Guangzhou (Canton). The autumn edition was the 140th. It is co-hosted by China’s Ministry of Commerce and the People’s Government of Guangdong Province, and the China Foreign Trade Centre is responsible for running it. The organisers themselves call the fair a barometer of China’s foreign trade, because what is shown here gives a good picture of the direction that trade is heading in.
The scale is easier to grasp in numbers. The spring edition attracted more than 314,000 overseas buyers from 220 countries and regions. More than 30,000 companies were expected, of which about 2,800 are exhibitors with “Canton Fair brand” status, awarded after an assessment by the organiser. Roughly one in three companies is an enterprise recognised in China as high-tech or specialised.
An exhibition this large cannot be shown all at once, so the fair is divided into three phases. Each has its own theme and its own exhibitors, and between them there is a break of a few days during which the exhibits are exchanged.
Phase 1: Where Manufacturing Meets Technology
The theme of the first phase, 15-19 October, was “advanced manufacturing”. It brought together industries that have long been the backbone of Chinese exports: machinery, hardware, tools, lighting and electrical equipment. Alongside them are sections that are only now gathering pace: electronics and home appliances, new energy vehicles, industrial automation and intelligent manufacturing. In Chinese terminology, “new energy” in the automotive sector means, among other things, electric cars, plug-in hybrids and fuel-cell vehicles.
Robots, Drones and Wearables
This phase showcased solutions at the intersection of mechanics, electronics and artificial intelligence. A separate service robots zone brought together, among others, humanoid robots, dog-shaped robots, mechanical hands for precision tasks, and inspection, delivery and cleaning robots. There were also exoskeletons, that is, structures worn on the body that are meant to relieve the muscles. In the wearables zone one could see watches, VR glasses and translation devices using AI. From other areas, connected vehicles, drones and new energy sources were showcased.
Why This Phase?
For a company that started in the automotive sector, the first phase has an almost textbook layout. In one place there are vehicles, tools, electronics and the companies that produce all of it, so the entire supply chain can be traced from idea to finished product. We have in-car cleaning collections, we produce for private labels and we personalise products in wholesale orders. We are also devoting more and more attention to technology. With Nuon Medical we are working, among other things, on SELUMA, a wristband for drivers with red light, which is meant to support concentration. The electronics and wearables section shows how quickly such solutions are maturing and who is able to produce them at scale.
For us, the Canton Fair ended with the first phase, but in Guangzhou the fair continues. After a short break, exhibitors with home furnishings appeared in the halls, and in the final phase they will be replaced by companies with health, recreation, toys and children’s products. Over the course of three weeks, the same halls move from machinery and vehicles to everyday goods, and we saw only the first stage of it.
Las Vegas: From the Supply Base to the Market
Guangzhou showed us where products and technologies come from. The other side of that road, the place where they reach customers, we will see in Las Vegas. AAPEX 2026 takes place there from 3 to 5 November, and we will be taking part for the first time as an exhibitor. In China we observed the market; in the United States, which is also covered by the promotion programme for the automotive sector, we will already be present in it with our offer.
AAPEX is a trade fair for the automotive aftermarket. The aftermarket covers everything a vehicle receives after leaving the factory: spare parts, accessories, tools and services. The fair is co-owned by the Auto Care Association and MEMA Aftermarket Suppliers, and the organisers state that the industry they represent is worth more than $2.65 trillion. In-car cleaning collections fit this market very naturally, because they go into cars that are in everyday use.
The scale of the fair is well illustrated by the figures from the official website: about 45,000 attendees, more than 2,500 manufacturers and suppliers, and more than 1,400 product categories across 550,000 square feet, or about 51,000 m². This year the fair occupies the Venetian Expo and an additional building, the AAPEX Forum.
After Automechanika in Frankfurt, The Supplier Days in the Netherlands and Guangzhou, this is yet another fair within a short time. Each of them touches a different part of the same puzzle: production, technology and the market. In Las Vegas we want to talk about car products, production for private labels, and what we can do together with partners from the industry.
Stay tuned for more news!
