The 140th Canton Fair opens in Guangzhou on 15 October 2026 and runs in three phases until 4 November. The organisers expect more than 220,000 pre-registered overseas buyers from 197 countries and regions, and more than 32,000 exhibitors across over 75,000 booths. A buyer who arrives without a plan sees a small fraction of that and flies home with business cards. A buyer who prepares leaves with a shortlist of suppliers worth verifying.
The dates and what each phase covers
| Phase | Dates | Main product areas |
|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 | 15–19 October 2026 | Electronics and household appliances, machinery, hardware and tools, vehicles and spare parts, lighting, new energy |
| Phase 2 | 23–27 October 2026 | Consumer goods, gifts and decorations, home and building materials, furniture |
| Phase 3 | 31 October – 4 November 2026 | Textiles and garments, shoes, bags, toys and baby products, food, health and medical products, personal care, office supplies |
The fair is held at the China Import and Export Fair Complex in the Pazhou area of Guangzhou. There are no exhibitions on 20–22 October or 28–30 October while the halls change over. Categories occasionally move between phases, so confirm your product's phase in the official exhibitor search before booking flights.
Registration and entry
- Pre-register online on the fair's official buyer portal. The buyer badge is free for overseas buyers, and pre-registration spares you the on-site queues.
- First-time buyers can generate an invitation letter during registration. It supports a business visa application where one is needed.
- Bring your passport: it is needed to collect the badge and to enter.
- Check entry rules for your nationality with the Chinese embassy or consulate. China has widened visa-free entry and visa-free transit for many countries, but the rules depend on your passport and change often.
Three weeks before you fly
- Write down what you are buying. Product, material, key dimensions, quantity per order, target price, target market and the certifications that market requires. A one-page request for quotation in English, with photos or drawings, gets you comparable answers at every booth.
- Shortlist exhibitors before the fair. Use the official exhibitor search by product and phase, note hall and booth numbers, and plan a route. Twenty targeted booths are worth more than two hundred random ones.
- Book hotels early. Guangzhou fills up during the fair, and prices rise with it.
- Prepare to follow up. Business cards, a shared spreadsheet or notes app, and a way to photograph and tag each product with the booth number.
This year the organisers offer booth-level navigation across all halls for the first time, which makes a pre-planned route much easier to follow.
On the stand: questions that separate suppliers
- Are you the manufacturer? Ask where the factory is, how many production lines it has and whether you can visit. Trading companies are not a problem in themselves, but you need to know which one you are talking to. Our guide to verifying a factory before paying a deposit explains how to check.
- What are the MOQ, lead time and price for my specification? Hand over your RFQ sheet and ask for a written quotation against it, not a price list. Why minimum quantities exist is covered in MOQ: why factories set one.
- Which markets do you export to, and which certifications do you hold for this product? Ask for the documents by email after the fair and check them before you order.
- What does a sample cost and how long does it take? See the sample stage and golden samples.
Photograph the product, the booth sign and the business card together. After fifty conversations, that picture is how you remember who offered what.
What not to do at the fair
- Do not pay deposits at the booth, however good the price looks.
- Do not treat an impressive stand as evidence of an impressive factory; stands are designed by exhibition contractors.
- Do not compare prices quoted against different specifications. A cheaper quote is often a thinner material or a smaller carton.
- Do not attend the wrong phase: during phase 1 there is no furniture on show, however long you walk.
After the fair: turning contacts into suppliers
- Follow up within a week with your RFQ and the notes from the stand.
- Check each shortlisted company's business registration and export history: supplier background checks.
- Order samples from the best two or three and compare them against your specification, not against each other.
- Audit the factory before the first order, and inspect before the balance payment: pre-shipment inspection checklist.
- Agree payment terms that keep leverage until the goods are inspected: payment terms when importing from China.
If you cannot travel
A sourcing agent can walk the relevant phase for you with your RFQ, film the products, collect quotations against your specification and shortlist suppliers for verification. The value is in the preparation and the follow-up, not in the walking. If that is useful for your category this October, tell us what you are buying and which phase it falls in.