(Yicai) May 6 -- Nearly 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 drawn to the 21-day Canton Fair jumped 17 percent to 288,938 from a year earlier, Zhou Shanqing, director of the event's news center, said at a closing conference yesterday.

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

Intended export deals climbed 3 percent to USD25.4 billion, with more than 60 percent from countries along the Belt and Road Initiative, Zhou pointed out. The number of exhibitors exceeded 30,000 for the first time, displaying over 4.5 million goods, including 1 million new, 880,000 green and low-carbon, and 320,000 intelligent products, Zhou noted.

The newly added service robot zone gathered 46 of China's leading robot companies, Zhou said, adding that they exhibited more than 500 types of robots in 60 subdivisions, with each firm receiving on average over 300 customers a day.

Some exhibitors said they are adjusting their strategies to actively explore markets beyond the US due to foreign 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 eastern Jiangsu province instead of Southeast Asia due to increasing uncertainty over international trade policies, a source from the firm told Yicai.

By introducing more smart production lines, the new plant's production 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 person said.

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

Editors: Dou Shicong, Martin Kadiev