Canton Fair, a pillar for global trade, local suppliers

The fair's spring session proved more popular, and emerging markets remained the largest source of overseas buyers for the showpiece, which concluded in early May in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province. The fair, commonly seen as a barometer of China's foreign trade, is held twice a year in spring and in autumn in Guangzhou.

As of May 4, a total of 288,938 overseas buyers from 219 countries and regions were recorded as having attended the global trade event, representing a 17.3 percent increase from the 135th session of the fair, also held in spring last year, according to the organizers.

Of those that attended, a total of 187,450 buyers were from countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, marking a 17.4 percent increase compared to the fair's 135th session and accounting for 64.9 percent of the total.

Buyers from BRICS countries and members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership also increased significantly, showing a growth of 24.1 percent and 6.9 percent, respectively, according to the fair's organizers.

"Brazilian companies all dream about one day importing from China," said Leal, adding nowadays around 30,000 companies in Brazil currently import from China, but stressed the importance of understanding your market and your product.

"It's always important to know where you are going to sell products. If you don't know the market, you don't know the product, then no matter how good the product is, you cannot make a successful business," said Leal. He said interest from Brazil was not only confined to industrial machines, but also evident in consumer and retail oriented businesses like jewelry, clothing or electronics.

"Overseas buyers showed active interest in placing orders, further boosting companies' confidence in expanding into diversified markets," said Zhou Shanqing, deputy director of the China Foreign Trade Center and head of the fair's media center.

The on-site intention turnover during the fair amounted to $25.44 billion, marking a 3 percent increase compared with the fair's 135th session.

Transactions with countries participating in the BRI accounted for over 60 percent of total turnover, playing an important role in driving transaction growth, while transactions with traditional markets remained stable, according to Zhou.

"Exhibiting companies commonly reported that products with good quality, strong innovation features and high brand recognition were more favored by overseas buyers," said Zhou.

Deng Guobiao, founder and CEO of cross-border trade payment platform XTransfer, said that trading funds from emerging markets — including the Middle East, Africa and South America — had increased significantly since early this year.

"We will introduce more preferential cross-border payment policies to support Chinese companies to expand their business in emerging markets," said Deng.