The 113th Canton Fair (spring session), saw more overseas buyers and larger trade deals in comparison to last year's autumn session, indicating that trade may see a modest recovery this year.

The 113th Canton Fair, which closed on May 5, received 202,800 overseas purchasers, up 7.06 percent from the 112th session held last October, fair spokesman and deputy director of the China Foreign Trade Center Mr. Liu Jianjun said.

The value of trade deals struck at the biannual event reached 35.5 billion USD, an increase of 8.8 percent from the last session. The number of overseas purchasers and the total trade value, however, came in at 3.8 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively, lower than that of last year's spring session.

Although the trade situation is improving this year, there has not been a fundamental improvement in external demand and trade pressure is far from being relieved, Liu said.

Chinese exporters are facing many challenges, including higher labor and materials costs, the appreciation of the yuan, higher fundraising costs and increasing trade friction. About 84 percent of orders placed at the fair came from agreements with terms of six months or less, he said.

"This shows that global buyers have remained cautious in clinching long-term orders due to the effects of the global financial crisis, Chinese exporters are also unwilling to accept long-term deals due to fluctuations in raw material prices and foreign exchange rates," Liu said.

Rising number of buyers from emerging markets

Transactions were down 4.9 percent with Europe, 0.5 percent with the United States and 12.6 percent with Japan year-on-year, as the number of visitors from these areas decreased.

Orders from BRICS members India, Brazil, Russia and South Africa increased 5.2 percent year-on-year, while those from Middle Eastern countries rose 3.8 percent.

"The number of buyers from emerging markets, especially from Africa, and Australia, also increased a lot, sending a signal that demand for Chinese products in these regions is increasing," said Liu.

"Chinese exporters should attach more importance to diversifying sales in emerging markets as there is still weak demand from traditional buyers, especially those from Europe," he added.