Canton Fair Guide for UK Sellers: How to Find Your Next Product in China

What is the Canton Fair?

The Canton Fair, officially the China Import and Export Fair, is a huge trade exhibition held at the China Import and Export Fair Complex in Pazhou, Guangzhou. The autumn 2026 session had over 30,000 exhibitors, and it is so big that you physically cannot visit every stand. Buyers come from all over the world, from one person Amazon sellers to buyers from the big UK discount chains. You are walking the same halls and talking to the same suppliers they are.

The fair is split into three phases, each about five days long, and each phase covers different product categories. Pick your phase based on what you want to source.

The 2027 dates above are the expected dates based on previous years and have not been officially confirmed yet. Always check the official Canton Fair website before you book flights. For most private label sellers, Phase 2 and Phase 3 are where the consumer products are.

Why go to China instead of sourcing on Alibaba?

Sourcing from your bedroom takes months. You find an idea, message suppliers, wait for samples, find out the sample is not what you expected, and start again. I cannot count how many test orders I have had that were nothing like the listing.

• You skip the middleman. Most of the time on Alibaba you are dealing with a trading company. At the fair you speak to the manufacturer directly and build a relationship with the people actually making your product.
• You test the product in your hands. You can see the quality, compare five suppliers in an afternoon and even place an order while you are there.
• You see products that are not in the UK yet. Suppliers sell to the whole world, so you find products already selling in the US or Asia that have not landed on UK Amazon or TikTok Shop. What trends in the USA usually trends in the UK next.
• The networking is unreal. I met eight figure sellers from the US, Europe, Turkey and Saudi. I honestly built a better network in two weeks in China than I did in Dubai.

How to register as a buyer

1. Go to the official Canton Fair Buyer Service System. Make sure the address is on the official cantonfair.org.cn domain, there are a lot of copycat sites.
2. Create an account and choose the overseas buyer badge.
3. Enter your personal and company details and upload a photo and your passport.
4. Pick the phase you are attending once registration opens for that session.
5. If you need a visa, you can request an official invitation letter through the same system.
6. Collect your badge in Guangzhou with your passport. Keep your approval receipt on your phone.

Register online before you fly. It is much quicker than queuing at the venue on the day.

Getting there and getting around

I was nervous about surviving in China too. No English, no Google, what do I eat? It was far easier than I expected.

Flights and hotels

Our flights were around £500 return. Get a direct flight if you can. We booked hotels on Trip.com, which is easy to use and transparent on price. Hotels near the fair book up fast during each phase, so book early.

The apps you need

Language

Most exhibitors at the fair have at least one person on the stand who speaks English. For everyone else, WeChat translate or a translation app does the job. If you visit factories outside fair season you may need a translator, but at the fair you really do not.

Food, including halal

Food was cheap, often £2 to £3 a head. There are lots of halal options in Guangzhou, from authentic hand pulled beef noodles to Turkish, Yemeni and Pakistani food, and the food delivery apps have halal options too. After the fair, a lot of the Muslim business owners ended up eating in the same places we did, which is how we met half our new network.

What we found at the fair

My goal was simple: find the product that could become a brand I eventually exit. We walked away with more ideas than we could ever launch ourselves, and shared a lot of them with our community. The one we chose was a Korean shower filter. The supplier gave us one of the best customer experiences I have ever had at a trade show, and that relationship is a big part of why we picked them. We launched it as our own brand, The Daily Spa.

Watch the full, uncut 80 minute vlog of the trip below if you want to see the halls, the stands and the supplier conversations.

Mistakes to avoid at the Canton Fair

1. Buying because it is easy to buy. Everyone at the fair is trying to sell you something. Buying is easy, selling is the hard part. Use data to check the product will actually sell before you order.
2. Going without a plan. You cannot see 30,000 stands. Decide your niches and the phase before you fly, and map the halls you need.
3. Copying another brand exactly. If a product is doing well, add your own twist or target a different customer. Do not just clone it.
4. Branding for the wrong customer. Your logo, colours and packaging have to suit the person you are selling to.
5. Thinking you need tens of thousands. One of our students launched a private label brand for £700. Start small, validate, then scale.

New to private label? Read our full guide: how to start a private label brand in the UK.

Frequently Asked Questions

More guides