Canton Fair Autumn 2026 Guide: Dates, Phases, Registration and What to Know Before You Travel

The Canton Fair puts thousands of Chinese manufacturers and exporters under one roof for a few days. Its scale also makes an unplanned visit tiring and unproductive: 1.55 million square metres, more than 75,000 booths and three phases with different products.

We checked every fact against its official source on 18 September 2026. Where autumn details are not yet published, such as badge-office hours, we give the previous comparable session’s arrangements and say so. Check the fair’s website before you travel.

What is the Canton Fair?

According to its official introduction, the China Import and Export Fair was founded in spring 1957. It is co-hosted by China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and the Guangdong provincial government, organised by the China Foreign Trade Centre, and held in Guangzhou twice a year. Its 139 sessions have generated cumulative exports of more than USD 1.5 trillion and drawn more than 13 million overseas buyers, on site and online.

It is a trade fair for professional buyers such as importers, wholesalers and distributors. Companies from outside China exhibit in the International Pavilion (Import Exhibition), in Phases 2 and 3 only (official page).

When is the next Canton Fair?

The 140th session runs in autumn 2026 in three phases, with changeover days in between, according to MOFCOM:

Opening hours are 9:30–18:00 every day (General Information). The previous session’s official Buyer Guide listed no shorter hours on the last day.

What about spring 2027? The 141st session’s dates had not been announced by 18 September 2026. The last spring dates were announced in the closing report of the session before, so watch for the 140th session’s closing report in early November.

What is shown in each phase, and in which hall?

The complex has four areas: A (Halls 1–8), B (9–13), C (14–16) and D (17–20). These lists follow the official 140th section list (in Chinese) and the fair’s hall maps. The Chinese list has 54 sections; the English one counts 55 by adding Prefabricated Housing and Courtyard Facilities to Phase 2.

Phase 1 (15–19 October): Advanced Manufacturing, 19 sections

• Area A: Household Electrical Appliances; General Machinery and Mechanical Basic Parts; New Materials and Chemical Products (Hall 1.1); New Energy Vehicles and Smart Mobility (Hall 8.1); Construction Machinery (Hall 4.0, indoor and outdoor); Agricultural Machinery
• Area B: Hardware; Tools; Vehicle Spare Parts; Vehicles (outdoor area 13.0)
• Area C: Motorcycles; New Energy Resources; Bicycles; Electronic and Electrical Products; Lighting Equipment
• Area D: Power Machinery and Electric Power; Processing Machinery Equipment; Industrial Automation and Intelligent Manufacturing; Consumer Electronics and Information Products
• Special zone: Service Robots (Friendship Hall 21.2)

Phase 2 (23–27 October): Quality Home Life, 14 sections

• Area A: Festival Products; General Ceramics; Gardening Products; Kitchenware and Tableware; Weaving, Rattan and Iron Products
• Area B: Sanitary and Bathroom Equipment; Building and Decorative Materials; Art Ceramics; Furniture; plus Prefabricated Housing and Courtyard Facilities in outdoor areas 9.0, 12.0 and 13.0
• Area C: Glass Artware; Household Items
• Area D: Home Decorations; Clocks, Watches and Optical Instruments; Gifts and Premiums
• Special zones: Fashion Jewellery (21.2); International Pavilion (Hall 2.1)

Three product groups in this phase each exceed 130,000 m²: building and furniture, household items, and gifts and decorations (MOFCOM).

Phase 3 (31 October – 4 November): Better Life, 21 sections

• Area A: Kids’ Wear; Men’s and Women’s Clothing; Sports and Casual Wear; Underwear; Shoes; Furs, Leather, Downs and Related Products; Carpets and Tapestries; Fashion Accessories and Fittings; Traditional Chinese Specialties (Hall 6.0)
• Area B: Pet Products and Food; Toiletries; Personal Care Products; Sports, Travel and Recreation Products; Medicines, Health Products and Medical Devices; Food; Office Supplies
• Area C: Home Textiles; Textile Raw Materials and Fabrics
• Area D: Toys; Children, Baby and Maternity Products; Cases and Bags
• Special zones: Intelligent Healthcare (21.2); International Pavilion (Halls 15.1 and 11.2)

Which phase is yours? Start with your main product. If your range spans two phases (kitchenware in Phase 2, appliances in Phase 1), stay for both or pick the one covering most of your purchases.

What is new at the 140th session?

At a State Council Information Office (SCIO) press conference (transcript in Chinese) on 18 September 2026, officials announced:

• Buyers: more than 210,000 from 196 countries and regions had pre-registered, nearly 80% of them professional buyers; 170 large buying companies and 48 partner organisations have confirmed delegations.
• Exhibitors: 32,000, over 11,000 of them government-designated “specialised and innovative” or “single champion” firms; more than 700 product launches, 7 forums and over 10 matchmaking events.
• Digital services: booth-level navigation accurate to 1 metre and 16 AI features, including the ASKME assistant in the fair’s app (MOFCOM).
• Badges: about 70 badge points at the airport, rail station, hotels and elsewhere, issuing a badge in about 30 seconds with a passport.
• Buyer membership, for the first time: every overseas buyer account earns points for attendance and pre-registration, redeemable for gifts, vouchers and services (announcement).
• City services: more than 2,000 taxis and ride-hailing cars dispatched daily, and a free one-day tour for overseas buyers.

Do you need to pre-register, and how do you register step by step?

You need a buyer badge to enter the halls, and the fair’s 2026 Attendance Guide for Overseas Buyers asks every overseas buyer to pre-register online. The guide is published in 10 languages: Chinese, English, Japanese, Arabic, Russian, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. Pre-registration is now open all year; pre-registered buyers collect their badge in about 30 seconds without forms and get a free welcome pack while stocks last.

Without pre-registration, the complex offices still serve overseas buyers with an original, valid passport, but the wait is longer, and the visa invitation letter is only issued from a pre-registered account.

First visit? The steps, from the fair’s illustrated guide:

1. Open the Buyer Service System or the fair’s app and choose your identity type (usually a foreign passport).
2. Register with an email and password, add your name, company, nationality and products sought, and confirm your email.
3. Create or join a company profile, upload your passport page (read automatically), enter your badge name, and upload a clear photo and your business card.
4. Complete the pre-registration questionnaire and submit the badge application.
5. You receive a pre-registration receipt with a QR code. It is not an approval, and false information means refusal on site.

Returning buyers log in, confirm their personal and company details and complete the questionnaire. Old badges remain valid and can be swapped for a new QR-code badge; a new photo must be less than six months old.

Travelling with a chamber of commerce? The fair has 240 global partners (SCIO), including chambers of commerce and trade-promotion bodies on every continent. Under the Global Cooperative Partnership Program, they get free badge application and a fair tour guide for group visits, so ask your national chamber about delegations.

Visa rules depend on your nationality: see our guide to the China visa for the Canton Fair.

How and where do you collect the buyer badge?

What to bring: your original, valid passport, a business card and your pre-registration receipt. At self-service kiosks, you hand staff your business card and scan your passport to print the badge (badge page). Off-site offices serve foreign-passport holders and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan residents with Mainland Travel Permits.

The 140th session’s locations and hours were unpublished on 18 September 2026. For reference, here is autumn 2025, which had the same dates:

• Complex offices: Area D at Xingangdong Exit A; Area B (382 Yuejiang Middle Road) at Pazhou Exits A and B; Area C (980 Xingang East Road) at Pazhou Exit C.
• Hotels and T3: in spring 2026, 60 designated hotels issued badges, mostly before each phase, and an office opened at the Terminal 3 international arrivals exit, near Gate 74 (badge page).
• Hong Kong: the fair’s office at Room 3106-3107, Office Tower, Convention Plaza, 1 Harbour Road, Wan Chai, opens on weekdays for pre-registered buyers bringing ID (notice).

Badge rules: the badge is free, valid for several sessions (keep it) and personal. The fair states it has not authorised any third party to provide badge services, so pay no one for it. Report a lost badge at once; the replacement is free and cancels the old one.

Bringing a Chinese assistant or interpreter? The buyer must request a paid accompanying badge at least two days ahead: CNY 300 per day plus CNY 50, maximum two per phase, per the previous session’s notice.

What are the entry rules inside the fair?

• Security: everyone passes security and badge checks, wears the badge photo side out and carries ID (badge regulations, in Chinese). Flammable and explosive items and controlled knives are banned (Guangzhou government).
• The badge is personal: lending it or using another person’s means confiscation and exclusion from the current session; lending your identity details, a four-session ban; forged documents or reselling badges, a permanent ban (penalty rules, in Chinese).
• Photography: photographing others’ booths or exhibits without permission, or disruptive livestreaming, carries a two-session ban and can lead to a permanent one (same rules). Ask the exhibitor first.
• Minors: the official exhibitor manual says under-18s are, in principle, not allowed into the halls during the fair, and exceptions need approval. Do not plan to bring children.
• Food: food and drinks delivered from outside are not allowed into the complex (Buyer Guide); restaurants and cafés are inside.

How do you get to the fair complex?

Guangzhou police recommend the metro during the fair, because only vehicles with permits may enter the complex. The exits, from the official Buyer Guide:

At Pazhou, the Line 8–11 transfer runs outside the station through a covered walkway (about 6 minutes) and counts as one journey within 30 minutes (Guangzhou government). Since 12 October 2025, all metro gates accept contactless foreign-issued Visa, Mastercard, American Express and JCB cards (Guangzhou government).

Taxis: last session, taxi stands were on Zhanchang Zhong, Zhanchang Xi and Huizhan Nan 3rd Roads, with ride-hailing pick-ups on Zhanchang Zhong Road, Huizhan Nan 2nd Road and at the Convention Center (Guangzhou government). Demand peaks at closing, 17:00–18:00.

Inside the complex: last session, electric shuttles linked Areas A, B and D from 8:30 to 16:00, and others crossed the bridge between A/B and C from 8:45 to 18:15 (fair page). Distances are long; wear comfortable shoes.

What services are available on site?

• Interpreters in 10 languages: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, Japanese, Arabic, Korean and German. English costs CNY 600 a day at a booth or CNY 800 as an escort; other languages CNY 800 and CNY 1,000. Under 4 hours counts as half a day; pay in CNY on site. Book 30 September–14 October on +86 20 8913 8055 or ISC@cantonfair.org.cn, then at Buyer Service Centres; numbers are limited (interpretation page).
• Free Wi-Fi: join the Cantonfair network and open 8.8.8.8 in a browser; the username is your badge number, the password its last six digits (Wi-Fi page).
• Money: currency-exchange machines, banks and ATMs in the complex, and a Foreign Visitors Payment Information Desk in Areas B and D. Exchange is limited to USD 5,000 a day and USD 50,000 a year, with your passport (exchange guide).
• First aid points in all four areas, plus defibrillators (first-aid page).
• Food and prayer: halal outlets in each area and a prayer room (Meditation Room) in Area A (Buyer Guide).
• Other services: luggage storage, information desks, post, business-card printing, air and train tickets, and customs, express and legal counters (Buyer Guide).
• VIP Buyer Lounge for companies that have attended 15 or more sessions, partners, Fortune 500 companies and major retailers (lounge page).

Unless stated otherwise, these details come from the previous session’s guides, which appeared before each phase opened.

Before and after the fair: the Canton Fair 365 platform and app run all year for finding exhibitors and products, posting sourcing requests, messaging and hall maps (MOFCOM); meetings with exhibitors can be booked there only during the physical fair.

How do you pay and change money in Guangzhou?

• Mobile payment: you can link a foreign Visa or Mastercard to Alipay and WeChat Pay, up to USD 5,000 per transaction and USD 50,000 a year (Chinese government). Set it up before you travel; a 24-hour centre at Baiyun Airport helps foreign visitors (SCIO).
• Cash: yuan (RMB) cash is legal tender and cannot be refused, and taxis must accept it (People’s Bank of China, in Chinese). Carry some as a back-up.
• Foreign cards: more than 16,000 merchants in Guangzhou accept them, and Guangdong has more than 6,800 currency-exchange points (SCIO).

Paying suppliers is different: never pay a deposit in cash or into a personal account at the booth. Pay only after verifying the supplier, against a contract and invoice in the company’s name. The better route is to work with a trusted sourcing agent that handles the whole process: choosing the factory, contracting with it, following production, inspecting quality before shipment and arranging shipping to your port of destination. You then have one accountable party instead of managing each stage yourself. Check the agent too: a company registered in China whose official registration you can verify, with payments going to the company’s account, never a personal one.

Where should you stay, and what is the weather like?

• Hotels: book early, as demand rises during the fair. Last session, 60 designated hotels issued badges, some near the complex in Pazhou (list). The official travel agency books at booking.cantonfair.org.cn (Attendance Guide).
• Registering your stay: hotels register foreign guests with the police. If you stay in an apartment or with friends, register with the police within 24 hours of arrival (Exit and Entry Administration Law, Article 39).
• Arrival card: since 20 November 2025, you can complete it free before travelling on the National Immigration Administration’s site; paper cards remain available at the airport (NIA).

These are 1981–2010 averages for Guangzhou from the China Meteorological Administration. October is warm and the third phase slightly cooler; bring a light umbrella and a jacket for the air-conditioned halls.

What were the figures for the last two sessions?

Both earlier sessions planned 1.55 million m² and more than 32,000 exhibitors, with 74,600 and 75,700 booths respectively (MOFCOM, 138th; 139th). “Intended” deals are purchase intentions announced at the fair, not completed contracts. The first session, in 1957, covered 9,600 m² and drew 1,200 buyers (SCIO).

How should you plan your visit to get results?

Before you travel:

1. Identify your phase and halls, shortlist exhibitors on the fair’s platform and message some to arrange meetings.
2. Pre-register now, generate the invitation letter if you need a visa, and book your hotel.
3. Write specifications in English or Chinese: material, dimensions, packaging, quantity, target price and the certifications your market requires.
4. Print plenty of business cards: you need one for your badge and more for exhibitors.

In the halls:

• Ask every exhibitor the same questions so you can compare: factory or trading company? Minimum order quantity? Production lead time? Price, and on what basis (FOB, for example)? Certifications? Payment terms?
• Collect catalogues and quotations, and note the product and price on each business card.
• Do not photograph products without permission, and do not sign or pay at the booth under “offer ends today” pressure.

After the fair: visit shortlisted factories, order samples, verify the supplier before paying, then inspect the order before shipment. A smart booth does not prove the exhibitor is a factory or that its quality is consistent. Weighing the fair against buying online? See our comparison of Alibaba, 1688 and the Canton Fair.

Should you visit on your own or with Alshumul’s help?

You can do everything yourself. Registration, the buyer badge and the invitation letter are all on the fair’s official website. The badge is free, and the fair has not authorised any third party to issue it.

If you want support, Alshumul Commercial Services is a company registered in Guangzhou. Our team can:

• help with pre-registration, the invitation letter and choosing the right phase and halls;
• arrange factory visits after the fair, or source suppliers on your behalf if you cannot travel;
• verify the suppliers you met before you send any payment, inspect your order before shipment, and arrange shipping to your port of destination.

Message us on WhatsApp with the products you need and the phase you plan to visit, and we will plan the steps with you.

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