As the China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair) — the country’s largest trade fair — approaches its 70th anniversary, business leaders have emphasized the event’s close ties with Hong Kong, calling on Hong Kong companies to actively participate this year to seize new opportunities.

Speaking at a spring gathering in Hong Kong on Tuesday, Zhou Qiang, deputy director-general of the Economic Affairs Department of the central government’s liaison office in the special administrative region, said that as the driving force and bellwether of China’s foreign trade, the Canton Fair has made a major contribution to Hong Kong’s improving trade structure and growing trade resilience.

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Zhu Yong, director of the China Foreign Trade Centre, underscored the financial hub’s role in the Canton Fair and in Chinese products going global. She said she hopes that in the future, the fair will drive the further development of Hong Kong’s traditional trade and emerging sectors, and facilitate their deeper integration into the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area’s industrial and supply chains.

Algernon Yau Ying-wah, secretary for Commerce and Economic Development of the HKSAR government, said that as Hong Kong is formulating its first five-year development plan to promote industry upgrading, this year’s fair offers a timely chance for local firms to seek new trade opportunities.

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The 139th Canton Fair will kick off on April 15 and run in three phases across April and May in Guangzhou. The exhibition will cover roughly 1.55 million square meters and is expected to feature over 30,000 enterprises, with a vast array of innovative products on display.

The 138th Canton Fair, held in October and November last year, set a new record, with more than 310,000 overseas buyers from 223 countries and regions participating in person.

Contact the writer at bingcun@chinadailyhk.com