VZCZCXRO8346
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHGZ #0655 3170313
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 120313Z NOV 08
FM AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC

UNCLAS GUANGZHOU 000655 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD EINV ECON PGOV CH HK TW
SUBJECT: 104TH CANTON TRADE FAIR: ATTENDANCE AND BUSINESS DOWN, BUT 
OFFICIALLY "BETTER THAN EXPECTED" 
 
¶1. Summary: The 104th Canton Trade Fair could not escape the effects 
of the global financial crisis, with almost 15,000 fewer visitors 
and a transaction volume down nearly seven billion U.S. dollars from 
the 103rd Fair held six months ago.  Fair officials claimed that the 
event had nonetheless gone "better than expected," considering the 
circumstances.  Intellectual property rights (IPR) violations 
remained an issue, with complaints filed against 911 companies.  End 
summary. 
 
¶2. Even before the October opening of the 104th China Import Export 
Commodities Fair (Canton Fair), exhibitors had expected a drop in 
attendees and transactions, but the results had been "better than 
expected," according to a Fair spokesperson.  Some exhibitors 
planned to strengthen their innovation and research and development 
efforts in an effort to stave off the slowing global economy.  The 
spokesperson cited an increase in the number of high-tech and 
high-value-added products on exhibit as evidence of this and said 
that environmental protection and energy-saving products had been 
"well received" by the market. 
 
¶3. Total orders at the fair reached USD 31.55 billion, down nearly 
USD 7 billion or 17 percent from last spring's 103rd Fair and 16 
percent from the 102nd Fair in fall 2007.  (Note: With appreciation 
of the renminbi against the U.S. dollar, the drop in renminbi terms 
was even sharper.)  Private companies -- mostly SMEs -- accounted 
for USD 18.56 billion in transactions, or 58.8 percent of the total 
trading volume, according to the fair's official website.  This year 
there was no official breakdown of orders by country of buyers. 
 
¶4. Most of the Fair's 174,562 attendees came from Asia, with Fair 
officials ranking traders from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan as most 
numerous.  U.S.-based visitors numbered 9,626, which was even lower 
than the 10,985 U.S. attendees who endured strict pre-Olympics visa 
policies to attend the 103rd Fair (12,102 attended the 102nd Fair). 
 
IPR Issues 
---------- 
 
¶5. According to official statistics, there was a large increase in 
the number of companies drawing IPR-infringement complaints -- 911, 
versus 534 from the last fair.  However, because many cases involved 
multiple companies, the number of cases filed fell to 645 from 681. 
Preliminary investigation results yielded a small rise in the number 
of companies judged to be "infringement suspects" (495 versus 473 in 
the last fair). 
 
JACOBSEN