Introducing the company and its products in every detail, distributing brochures and exchanging business cards with clients ... This was another busy day for staff members of the suitcases and bags unit of Shanghai KJ Import & Export Co at the 134th Canton Fair, since the opening of its third phase.

Seeing the busy activities of his colleagues, Dong Ruhua, general manager of the unit, always put on a smile of happiness and relief. He said he is confident that the global market of suitcases and bags will flourish again in the future as business and travels have resumed after a three-year COVID-19 pandemic.

Dong is a veteran trader at Canton Fair as he began to attend this top international trade fair in China nearly 30 years ago and has seldom missed it ever since.

He said that Canton Fair has been a major engine to power his company’s development. Through the platform of Canton Fair, Shanghai KJ has closely kept up with the trends and requirements of the international market and has seen its sustained expansion in export business based on its growing strengths in research, development and innovation.

He noted that such an expansion has been evidenced in its growing scale of exhibition at the fair over the decades.“At the beginning, we were vying for a small booth. But today, we are displaying our wares on a spacious exhibition area dedicated to a marked brand.”

At this session of Canton Fair, Shanghai KJ’s exhibition booth was located in Zone D, a newly established section that many buyers might be unfamiliar with.

Dong didn’t think the new location would influence the visits of buyers.“We had already informed our old clients of our new location and invited them to visit our booth,” Dong said. “Our scale of exhibition, eye-catching exhibits and products with reliable quality and competitive costs also proved appealing to new visitors.”

His judgment was justified by the flocks of visitors to the company’s booth every day during the third phase.

The executive praised Canton Fair as an excellent platform for trade promotion.“This is a major channel for traders like us to expand in overseas market and grow business,” Dong said, adding that his company has secured more than 70 percent of its clients through the event.

“The event is also of great significance in helping us develop better products and grow branding influence,”he said.

He explained that Canton Fair is a weather vane for international trade because it is a venue for enterprises to track the latest market demands and clients’new requirements for products.

Following the market dynamics presented by the event, Shanghai KJ has timely adjusted its product portfolio tailored to the needs of various clients.

Dong cited“green development” as an example. “When the concept of ‘Green Canton Fair’ was proposed many years ago, we immediately realized this would be the trend of the international consumer goods market and the growth direction of domestic industries,” he said. “So we began to develop environmentally friendly materials and products, which have helped us establish a leading position in the industry and win more overseas buyers, especially those from developed countries and markets.”。