Chinese traders clashed with event organizers and police at an international trade expo in the megacity of Shenzhen in southern China over alleged hired fake foreign buyers, according to social media posts and some traders who spoke with The Epoch Times.
The 2026 Shenzhen Foreign Trade Import and Export Fair was held from June 16 to June 18, concurrently with the 12th Shenzhen International Cross-Border E-Commerce Trade Expo and the 9th Global Cross-Border E-Commerce Festival at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center (Futian). The fairs were organized by the Shenzhen Cross-Border E-Commerce Association, with the China General Chamber of Commerce and other organizations serving as co-organizers.
Amid the persistent sluggish economy, very few buyers attended to negotiate with businesses at the expo, according to the traders, who said they paid high fees to participate but found out that organizers hired foreigners to pose as foreign buyers at the event. The traders accused organizers of false advertising and demanded refunds of their exhibition fees, which amounted to tens of thousands of yuan, or thousands of dollars, according to social media posts.
Yang, an exhibitor from Shandong Province in eastern China who only gave his last name out of fear of reprisal, told The Epoch Times that the exhibition was full of hired actors, and “there wasn’t a single genuine customer. They were paying foreigners 500 yuan ($74) each. It was the most unreliable event ever.”
“They hauled in a busload of foreigners to hand out cash to them—calling out their names and paying them—but they got caught red-handed. The exhibition was packed with nothing but logistics companies, food delivery services, and freight forwarders—or otherwise, just industry peers,” Yang said.
As a result, the exhibition yielded no results, Yang said, and a crowd of exhibitors demanded a refund, as shown in a video of the scene provided by Yang.
Another video on social media shows a large number of exhibitors surrounding the event organizers, demanding a refund of their booth fees, as armed police formed a human wall to confront the protesting exhibitors.
Several exhibitors who didn’t give their names out of fear of reprisal from the Chinese regime, also told The Epoch Times that the actual number of visiting buyers was far lower than the organizers had claimed, and most booths saw hardly any foot traffic with virtually no business discussions taking place.
One of them confirmed that the organizers paid large numbers of foreigners to pose as buyers, creating a false impression of a bustling event. “They were spotted at the subway entrance checking names and phone numbers against lists and handing out payments to these ‘actors’ as they lined up,” the exhibitor said.
Some angry exhibitors at the expo smashed their own exhibits and other facilities as they were leaving on June 18 after their demands for a refund—raised the previous day—had gone unanswered, according to another post on social media.
The exhibitors spent approximately 20,000 yuan ($2,954) on booth fees and additional costs such as transportation and accommodation but secured virtually no viable orders, according to the post.
The final result of the exhibitors’ refund demands was not yet available at time of publication.
