Drop in numbers of overseas buyers to Canton Fair expected

GUANGZHOU, April 14 (Xinhua) -- The world's largest trade fair, which is set to open Friday for its first session of 2011 in southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, is expected to have less overseas buyers than the last session due to the north African unrest, Japanese earthquake and global inflation, organizers said Thursday.

The 109th China Import and Export Fair, more commonly known as the Canton Fair, has become so large that it is spread over three five-day sessions, twice a year.

"The number of overseas buyers is estimated to drop from 3 to 5 percent from that of the last session," said Liu Jianjun, deputy director of China Foreign Trade Center, the organizer, at a press conference held Thursday in Guangzhou.

According to available data, the number of overseas buyers from African countries such as Libya and Cote d'Ivoire, would dramatically decline, said Liu.

The number of Japanese buyers might also drop due to the earthquake, but the impact would be slight due to the efforts made by Japanese industrial and commercial institutions who said they would actively organize buyers to visit the fair.

More than 6,000 Japanese buyers came to the last session of the fair, said Liu.

Japan needs building materials for its earthquake reconstruction and China is well placed to meet much of that demand.

Japan is the third largest trade partner of China, and bilateral trade accounts for 10 percent of China's foreign trade volume, said Liu.

He noted that the number of buyers from the European Union and the United States should remain steady.