(Yicai) May 6 -- Almost 290,000 international buyers participated in this year's first round of the bi-annual Canton Fair in Guangzhou, a record-high number of attendees.

The number of overseas buyers at the 21-day China Import and Export Fair, as it is officially known, jumped 17 percent from a year earlier to 288,938, Zhou Shanqing, director of the event's news center, said at a closing press conference yesterday.

Most buyers were from emerging markets, with 187,450 coming from countries along the Belt and Road Initiative, a 17 percent increase on a year ago, Zhou noted. Those from European and North American countries reached 51,862, up 3 percent, Zhou added.

Intended export deals rose 3 percent to USD25.4 billion, with more than 60 percent from countries along the BRI, Zhou pointed out, adding that the number of exhibitors exceeded 30,000 for the first time. More than 4.5 million items were displayed onsite, including 1 million new products, 880,000 green low-carbon products, and 320,000 smart products, according to Zhou.

The fair’s new service robot zone gathered together 46 of China's leading companies in robotics, Zhou said. They exhibited more than 500 types of robots in 60 categories, with each firm welcoming more than 300 customers a day on average, he said.

Some exhibitors said they are adjusting their strategies to actively explore markets beyond the United States due to the trade risks from President Donald Trump's new tariff policy.

Taiyu Boyang International Trade, a Beijing-based printed balloon maker that mainly sells its products in North America, Europe, and Australia, has decided to build its new factory in China's Jiangsu province instead of Southeast Asia due to increasing uncertainty over international trade policies, a source at the firm told Yicai. 

By introducing more smart production lines, the new plant's output capacity will be five times larger than Taiyu Boyang's old factory, while costs will be cut by 30 percent to 40 percent, the person said. After becoming operational next year, its products will be more competitive in price-sensitive emerging markets while still being shipped to European and American markets, the source added.

This year's second edition of the Canton Fair, which has been held in Guangzhou since 1957, will run from Oct. 15 through Nov. 4.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Martin Kadiev