113th Canton Fair sees rebounding turnover

One of the barometers for the health of China's factories and manufacturing sector is Canton Fair. China's largest trade fair is held twice a year in Guangzhou, and the 113th session wrapped up on Sunday.

And, it's a bit of a mixed picture. The spring session saw more overseas buyers and bigger deals compared with last year's autumn session. The value of deals reached 35.5 billion US dollars, up by 8.8 percent from the last event, but 1.4 percent lower than last year's spring session.

Insiders say although the trade situation is likely to improve this year, external demand is still weak. Chinese exporters are facing challenges like higher labour and material costs, the appreciation of the local currency, and higher financing costs.

Most of the deals reached at the latest Canton Fair stipulated terms of less than six months, reflecting caution from both importers and exporters on the long-term health of the global economy.