Exhibitors were warned not to pack up early at last week’s Canton Fair. Many did anyway, due to the low flow of visitors. The fair is China’s twice-yearly premier showcase for foreign trade held in Guangzhou, an event long hailed as the country’s biggest shop window to the world.
When its aisles thin out, so does confidence in the nation’s export engine. This spring’s limp turnout—and the organizer’s order forbidding exhibitors to leave before the official teardown—highlights how U.S.-led tariffs and shifting global sourcing have begun to choke Chinese factories.
