The 103rd China Import and Export Fair, also known as the "Canton Fair", opened today in the face of the severe test of China's commodity exports.

Xu Bing, deputy director of the China Foreign Trade Center, said yesterday that the Ministry of Commerce will go to the present state of the Guangzhou trade fair to investigate the survival of the enterprises. It mainly conducts research on traditional export enterprises such as clothing, toys, shoes and caps, and holds several seminars to listen widely to the views of the enterprises.

"First Financial Daily" was informed that Chen Deming will be the first minister of Commerce to participate in Canton Fair, and will participate in discussions with some foreign trade enterprises.

Influenced by many factors, such as the acceleration of RMB appreciation, the subprime mortgage crisis in the United States, and domestic inflation and labor costs, China's commodity exports are facing unprecedented challenges this year.

It is widely believed that the Canton Fair, known as the "barometer" of China's foreign trade, will release the slowdown in export growth this year, especially the turnover of traditional goods such as clothing, toys, shoes and hats.

Xu Bing said that the acceleration of RMB appreciation and the uncertain future of the US market will affect the turnover of this Canton Fair.

Exhibitors generally reflected increased export pressure, and some export processing enterprises in Dongguan and other production bases failed.

"In view of the fact that the export situation is not very optimistic, the Canton Fair will greatly expand the booth area, provide more export opportunities for more Chinese suppliers, and increase the invitation to overseas buyers. It is expected that the number of exhibitors and purchasers will exceed 500 thousand.

"Xu Bing said in an interview with" First Financial Daily ".

The Canton Fair will be the largest in the history of the Canton Fair, with a total number of 42659 exhibitions, an increase of 10653 over the previous session.

In addition, the total number of invitations for overseas buyers was 366 thousand, an increase of 46 thousand over the 102nd session.

It was reported that in mid February, the Ministry of Commerce in order to analyze and study the export situation this year, especially the impact of domestic and foreign environmental changes and RMB appreciation on export enterprises, specially sent 5 research teams to Guangdong, Zhejiang and Shandong provinces to understand the actual situation of enterprises.

Local people in Guangdong said that the Ministry of Commerce has conducted more than a year's investigation and Study on the reform plan of the Canton Fair, and has visited Guangdong to investigate the business situation many times before and after the Spring Festival this year.

At present, the booth of the Canton Fair still can not fully meet the requirements of exhibitors. The Ministry of Commerce will further listen to the views of exhibitors and purchasers and appropriately expand the exhibition scale.

A number of Canton Fair exhibitors said in an interview with our reporter that excessive appreciation of the renminbi and rising production costs are the main reasons for enterprises to take orders.

Wang Yongli, deputy general manager of Guangdong Silk Textile Group Co., Ltd., said that the "breaking 7" of the renminbi increased the difficulty of the order. Whether the enterprise could pfer the rising cost to overseas buyers was in the bottom. The price increase depends on the situation in the next few days, which is not expected to be exported this year.

According to customs statistics, China exported 305 billion 900 million US dollars in the first quarter of this year, an increase of 21.4%, which is 6.4 percentage points lower than that of the same period last year. As the largest province of foreign trade, Guangdong exported 86 billion 730 million US dollars, an increase rate of 16%, lower than the national level, especially the export of textiles, clothing and shoes in 1~2 months.

"This year's decline in China's foreign trade is impossible, but the slowdown is almost certain.

In the process of export restructuring, some enterprises will be eliminated, but setting a certain threshold is necessary.

The current export situation requires enterprises to further strengthen their internal strength.

"Dr. Mei Xinyu, a researcher at the Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce, said.

He believed that before the export growth was too fast and the trade surplus was too high to be sustainable, the adjustment of export tax rebate and processing trade and other macro adjustment policies were carried out in the past one or two years, focusing on the steady development of foreign trade. There is no big policy adjustment this year.