Canton Fair 2027: a guide for European trade buyers

The spring 2027 Canton Fair, the 141st session, runs in Guangzhou from 15 April to 5 May 2027, in three five-day phases: 15 to 19 April, 23 to 27 April and 1 to 5 May. These are the dates the organiser’s official site listed when we checked on 13 November 2026.

This guide covers what the fair is, which phase matters for cleaning and boat-care buyers, the badge, visas, and how to get real information out of three days of booths. It is general information and does not replace legal or immigration advice.

What the Canton Fair is

The China Import and Export Fair, known as the Canton Fair, began in spring 1957. According to the organiser’s own introduction, it is co-hosted by China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and the People’s Government of Guangdong Province, organised by China Foreign Trade Centre, and held every spring and every autumn in Guangzhou. The fair complex is at No. 382 Yuejiang Zhong Road, Guangzhou.

It is an export fair. Chinese companies rent booths to win orders from foreign buyers. A booth tells you a company wants export business. It tells you nothing about who owns the production line.

Spring 2027 dates and which phase to attend

The 2027 dates below come from the official site, which gives the phase themes as Advanced Manufacturing, Quality Home Life and Better Life. They repeat the pattern of the spring 2026 session, which MOFCOM’s office in Italy listed as 15 to 19 April, 23 to 27 April and 1 to 5 May 2026.

The product sections come from that same MOFCOM introduction to the 139th session (spring 2026), translated from Chinese by us. The 141st layout may change.

There is no section named for marine goods. A buyer of brushes, mops, buckets and sponges would start in Phase 2. Boat vacuums sit with household appliances and aluminium poles with hardware, both in Phase 1. For the autumn 2026 session, MOFCOM described the same three themes, advanced manufacturing, quality home life and better life, so the split has held across the last two sessions and is announced again for the 141st.

Registering and collecting your badge

Overseas buyers can pre-register all year round on the official site or app. First-time attendees create an account, complete the pre-registration questionnaire and apply for a badge. Returning attendees log in, confirm their personal and company details and complete the questionnaire. Pre-registered new buyers can collect their badge at registration offices in the complex, at the airport or at hotels.

The organiser’s badge guide, written for the autumn 2026 session, says:

• You need your original passport, a business card and the pre-registration receipt with its QR code (a square barcode you show on your phone or on paper).
• New badges, replacements and renewals are free.
• A valid overseas buyer badge from an earlier session gets you in after verification, with no activation.

Check the guide again before the spring session, since it is updated for each one.

Visas for European buyers

In November 2025 China extended its unilateral visa-free policy, according to a notice published by its consulate in Adelaide on 4 November 2025. Holders of ordinary passports from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Poland, Portugal, Croatia and many other European countries may enter without a visa for business, tourism, family visits, transit or exchanges, for no more than 30 days. The notice runs until 24:00 on 31 December 2026.

The United Kingdom was not on that list. A later notice from the Chinese Embassy in the UK, dated 15 February 2026, added holders of ordinary UK passports on the same terms, up to 30 days, from 17 February 2026 until 24:00 on 31 December 2026.

The spring 2027 fair falls after that date. Unless China announces a further extension, you may need a visa. Check the current rules with the Chinese embassy or consulate in your country before you book.

How to work the fair

Shortlist before you fly. The official site lists exhibitors and products across 13 categories and 54 sections. Search your product, note the companies in your phase, and write to them before the fair with your specification and expected volume. A supplier who answers a clear email before the fair usually answers it after. Go with a list of booth numbers.

Tell a factory from a trading company. Both exhibit, and a trading company may also describe itself as a factory. Ask questions that only a manufacturer can answer without checking with someone else.

• Where is the plant, and can we visit it the week after the fair?
• Which machines make this item, and how many lines run it?
• Which parts do you make in-house and which do you buy (bristles, handles, poles, motors)?
• What is your monthly capacity for this item, and how much of it is already booked?
• May I photograph your business licence? Does the company name on it match the name on your quotation and on the bank account you will invoice from?
• Which test reports do you hold for this item, and in whose name were they issued?

A trading company is not always the wrong choice. You simply need to know which one you are dealing with, because the margin and the responsibility sit in different places.

Collect business licences. Photograph the licence of every company you might order from. The registered name on it is the legal entity you would pay and, if needed, pursue. Our guide on verifying a Chinese supplier covers what to check next.

Treat booth prices as a starting point. A price given at a booth is quoted before the supplier knows your material, packaging, labelling, order quantity or Incoterm (the trade term that fixes who pays freight, insurance and duty, and where the goods change hands). Each of those moves the price. Use booth prices to rank suppliers, then ask for a written quotation against a written specification. To see what the price turns into once it reaches your warehouse, read our landed cost worked example.

What the fair cannot tell you

A booth shows samples. It does not show who made them, whether the line can repeat them at volume, how the plant controls quality, or whether part of the order goes to a subcontractor. The most polished booth can belong to a company with no machines at all.

The plant itself answers these questions. Visit it after the fair, before you pay a deposit. Look at the line running your product, the raw material in stock, the finished goods waiting to ship and the inspection records. Many plants are far from Guangzhou, so plan the visits into the trip or have someone go for you. A factory visit or audit after the fair is a service Aslan offers on a day rate, from Suzhou or Shenzhen; see pricing.

When the trip is worth it, and when it is not

The trip is worth it when you are building a new range or adding a category, need to meet many suppliers of one product in a few days, plan orders large enough to fill a container, and have time to visit plants afterwards.

It is less useful when you already buy a stable range to a fixed specification and mainly want a better price for the same goods. A written quotation, a price benchmark and a visit to the one or two plants that make your items will tell you more than three days in the halls. It is also less useful if you cannot spare the week after the fair for plant visits, because the fair alone leaves the most important questions open.

If boat-care goods are your main line, our marine cleaning page lists the products in that range.