CONGRATULATORY MESSAGE FOR 100 YEARS ANNIVERSARY OF THE CANTON FAIR FROM THE BRAZIL CHINA CHAMBER

The wealth and variety of products shown in the Guangzhou Canton Fair has always allowed the world to understand more about China, its industrial and economic capabilities.

Even people without any previous knowledge of China, or China experience, can come away from the Canton Fair after only a few days with an understanding of the magnitude of what China produce. A feel for its quality, technology, design and pricing can be sensed from this short exposure in the fair and a first hand knowledge can be learned of the Asian Giant. I always mention in my articles and speeches that the Canton Fair offers everything from toothpicks to those with the most advanced, state of the art technology.

China’s wealth creation, development and emergence as a world class economic power of ever growing importance are significantly based on its exports.

Undoubtedly, the success and surge of China’s foreign trade can be directly linked to the importance of the Canton Fair. For fifty years the Canton Fair has continuously been an important event in the agendas of many of the people that make history happen and business move from around the world. Without any doubt this has contributed immensely to promote an understanding of China, create friendship with businesses, organizations and authorities from all the world.

The organizers of this fair are also tireless promoters of this event. Over the years since our foundation in 1986, our Chamber has been proud to have organized conferences with presentation by our Chamber and the Canton Fair leaders to business leaders and authorities in the Federations of Industries and Commercial Associations of almost every state in Brazil. Complete information in the Portuguese language about the Canton Fair can be found in our Chamber’s bilingual website. The Governor of the State of Santa Catarina, who was formerly the Brazilian Minister of Science and Technology that signed the successful Sino Brazilian Aerospace Agreement in 1988, is grateful to the Organization of the Canton Fair and to Mr. Chen Barong, Vice President, for the warm reception and assistance during our delegation’s visit to the fair on October of last year.

Most of the hundreds of Brazilian businessmen that join the various delegations to the Canton Fair organized by our Chamber every semester have done significant business during and after their visits to this important showcase of China. During October of
2004 we organized the visit to the Canton Fair of the Presidents and senior management of more than twenty large textile industries members of SINTEX, their trade association in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil. Most of the companies that joined this visit to the Canton Fair went to China for the first time and are now doing business with Chinese companies. One company, Rovitex, while in the trade fair for the first time, ordered three hundred thousand pairs of Bermudas per month. We believe that the volume of business generated from the Brazilian delegations that our Chamber sends to the Canton fair represent the growth of trade volume between the two giants. This volume climbed from US$ 1.5 billion in 1999 to US$ 11 billion last year.

Based on these results, our long friendship and partnership with the Canton Fair we congratulate and commemorate together with you, the 100th Session of the Chinese Export Commodities Fair.