The 140th China Import and Export Fair, better known as the Canton Fair, celebrated its 70th anniversary against a backdrop of rapid industrial upgrading. Over 189,000 buyers from 214 nations attended the first phase in Guangzhou, a 13.3% rise on the previous spring session, underscoring growing appetite for Chinese high-tech manufacturing and green technologies. More than 12,000 Chinese firms exhibited, with roughly six thousand singled out for cutting-edge innovation and specialised output.
AI, automation and sustainability dominate the exhibition floor
The fair’s statistics reveal that nearly two-thirds of participants already embed artificial intelligence or industrial internet solutions into their processes. New-product launches numbered over 700, while 23.2% of displays featured novel items and 26% highlighted environmentally friendly designs. Visitors could explore 22 smart-application scenarios and 16 AI-driven use cases, ranging from robotic assembly lines to predictive maintenance platforms.
Business leaders from Pakistan, such as Nosherwan Khalil Khan of the Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce, emphasised that the event serves as a bridge for technology transfer and joint-venture creation. He urged local SMEs to leverage the fair not merely for sourcing equipment but also for securing strategic partnerships that could boost export competitiveness and modernise production.
Manufacturing PMI shows resilience in high-tech sectors
October’s official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) slipped to 49.3, just shy of the growth threshold. The decline reflected early-holiday demand compression and a tricky international backdrop. Yet the high-tech and equipment subsectors stayed in expansion territory, posting PMIs of 51.3 and 50.6 respectively. Sub-indices for railway, shipbuilding, aerospace and electronic equipment all hovered at 53 or above, indicating robust order books in advanced industries.
Large-scale producers continued to expand, with a PMI of 50.2, while smaller firms faced contraction pressures (PMIs 48.4 and 47.5). Prices for raw materials and factory-gate sales remained above 50, though growth slowed, hinting at a modest easing of commodity cost pressures.
China’s green-tech exports and policy push ahead of COP31
Government data confirmed that clean energy accounted for 37% of national electricity generation in the first three quarters of 2026, with solar, wind and nuclear output rising 20%, 11% and 22% year-on-year respectively. Simultaneously, coal production and thermal generation fell, and policy drafts now call for “peak-shaving retrofits” of coal units to free capacity for renewable integration.
Analysts estimate that Chinese clean-energy equipment exported this year will avoid 450 Mt of CO₂ globally, most of it in the Global South. The move aligns with the Communist Party’s “Long March spirit” narrative, linking climate ambition to broader industrial reform. At the same time, China announced tentative export controls on twelve solar-related technologies, citing national-security concerns, and signalled tighter coordination with the EU on trade practices.
For emerging economies, the combination of high-tech manufacturing prowess, expanding green-tech export capacity and policy incentives creates a fertile ground for deeper industrial cooperation, technology sharing, and participation in higher-value global supply chains.
