Canton Fair 2027: a planner for US business buyers

The Canton Fair (officially the China Import and Export Fair) is the biggest trade fair in China, held twice a year in Guangzhou. The spring 2027 session will be the 141st. This planner covers what’s confirmed, what’s only expected, which phase sells what, and how to turn a week of booth visits into a finished order.

The short answer

As of October 15, 2026, the organizer has not published the dates for the 141st Canton Fair (spring 2027). If it follows the usual spring pattern, it will run in three five-day phases from mid-April to early May 2027 in Guangzhou. Plan around that pattern, but book refundable flights and hotels until the official site confirms the dates.

• Phase 1 covers manufacturing, electronics, lighting and hardware.
• Phase 2 covers furniture, building materials, ceramics and homewares.
• Phase 3 covers textiles, office supplies, health products and toys.
• Many business buyers need two phases. A hotel project is the classic case: lighting is in Phase 1 and furniture is in Phase 2.

Canton Fair 2027 dates: confirmed vs expected

Only the autumn 2026 session has official dates right now. The spring 2027 dates below are an expectation based on recent spring sessions, not an announcement.

Session	Dates	Status
140th, autumn 2026	Phase 1: Oct 15–19 · Phase 2: Oct 23–27 · Phase 3: Oct 31–Nov 4, 2026	Official (cantonfair.org.cn, MOFCOM notice)
139th, spring 2026	April 15 – May 5, 2026, in three five-day phases	Held (Xinhua)
141st, spring 2027	Phase 1: ~Apr 15–19 · Phase 2: ~Apr 23–27 · Phase 3: ~May 1–5, 2027	Expected, not confirmed

The 140th fair is the best reference for the rhythm. Each phase lasts five days, and the halls close for three days between phases while one set of exhibitors moves out and the next moves in (October 20–22 and 28–30 in autumn 2026, per the Ministry of Commerce notice). If spring 2027 follows the same pattern, the gaps will fall around April 20–22 and April 28–30. Those gap days are the best time for factory visits.

Check cantonfair.org.cn for the official 141st schedule before you book anything non-refundable.

What’s in each phase

Each phase has a theme and a fixed group of product categories. The table below is the official layout of the most recent session, the 140th (autumn 2026). It has 13 categories split across three phases. The 141st layout may move some sections, so check it when it’s published.

Phase	Official theme	Categories	Sections that matter most to B2B buyers
Phase 1	Advanced Manufacturing	Electronics & Appliance; Manufacturing; Vehicles & Two Wheels; Light & Electrical; Hardware	Lighting equipment, electronic and electrical products, household appliances, consumer electronics, industrial automation, processing machinery, construction machinery, tools, hardware, new energy, service robots
Phase 2	Quality Home Life	Housewares; Gifts & Decorations; Building & Furniture	Furniture, building and decorative materials, sanitary and bathroom equipment, general ceramics, kitchenware and tableware, household items, home decorations, gardening products, weaving/rattan/iron products, prefabricated houses and courtyard facilities
Phase 3	Better Life	Health & Recreation; Toys & Children, Baby and Maternity; Home Textiles; Fashion; Stationery	Home textiles, carpets and tapestries, office supplies, sports, travel and recreation products, medicines, health products and medical devices, personal care, toys, clothing, shoes, bags, food

Sources: the 140th Canton Fair homepage (themes and categories) and the MOFCOM notice (exhibition sections).

Three details catch first-time buyers out:

• Carpets and home textiles are in Phase 3, not with furniture in Phase 2. Hotel buyers who need carpet, bedding or curtains have a third phase to think about.
• Kitchenware and tableware are in Phase 2, next to ceramics.
• Office supplies are in Phase 3, while office furniture sits with the rest of the furniture in Phase 2.

Which phase should you visit?

Pick phases by what you’re buying, not by when it’s convenient. For a project buyer, that often means two phases.

You’re buying for…	Phase 1	Phase 2	Phase 3
A hotel renovation or new build	Lighting, electrical	Furniture, bathroom fittings, building materials, tableware	Carpets, bedding and other textiles
A restaurant fit-out	Lighting, appliances	Furniture, tableware, kitchenware, décor	Textiles (optional)
Offices or schools	Lighting	Furniture	Office supplies
A gym or fitness studio	n/a	n/a	Sports and recreation products
A factory or workshop	Machinery, tools, hardware	n/a	n/a
Your own product (a startup)	Electronics, if that’s your category	Housewares or gifts, if that’s your category	Health, personal care or toys, if that’s your category

Before you fly, search the exhibitor and product database on the official site or the Canton Fair app. Both run all year and are organized by the same sections as the halls. A shortlist of booths made at home makes five days in the halls far more productive.

Why a hotel buyer may need two phases

A hotel buyer usually needs Phase 1 for lighting and Phase 2 for furniture, about a week apart. You can stay for both and use the gap for factory visits, or attend one phase and have someone on the ground cover the other.

Lighting (chandeliers, pendants, wall lights, LED fixtures) is in Phase 1. Guestroom furniture, lobby seating, bathroom fittings and building materials are in Phase 2. If the expected pattern holds, Phase 1 starts around April 15, 2027 and Phase 2 around April 23.

A two-phase trip can be planned like this (dates are based on the expected pattern):

Days	Plan
Phase 1 (expected Apr 15–19)	Two or three days in the lighting and electrical halls
End of Phase 1 and the gap (expected Apr 18–22)	Lighting factories in Guzhen, Zhongshan, then furniture factories and showrooms in Foshan
Phase 2 (expected Apr 23–27)	Furniture, sanitary and bathroom, building materials, ceramics and tableware halls
After Phase 2	Second visits to the shortlisted factories, then fly home

That is close to two weeks in China. The other option is to attend the phase that matters most to you and let our team cover the other one. Our China office is in Foshan, and our team works across Guangzhou, so we can visit the second phase on your behalf and send you photos, quotes and a shortlist. We plan this as part of our China factory tours and Canton Fair service. For what happens after the fair on a hotel project, see our hotel FF&E guide.

Registration, badges and visas

Overseas buyers pre-register on the official Canton Fair website and collect a buyer badge. For the visa, check the Chinese Embassy’s rules for your trip before you book. The official sources are the only reliable ones here, because the rules change.

Registration and badges. For the 140th session, the Ministry of Commerce notice said (source):

• Pre-registration is open all year on the official website.
• New overseas buyers can apply for a badge at registration offices that include Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, Guangzhou South Railway Station, Pazhou Ferry Terminal, designated hotels in Guangzhou and the Canton Fair’s Hong Kong office.

The official site also publishes an Attendance Guide for Overseas Buyers (English and nine other languages), a badge guide, and an invitation application for overseas buyers. Read the current versions on cantonfair.org.cn before you travel. They list the documents and steps for that session.

Visas. Check the Chinese Embassy in the United States and the US State Department’s China page for your trip. Two things are worth knowing:

• US passport holders are among the nationalities eligible for China’s 240-hour visa-free transit, according to China’s National Immigration Administration. It requires an onward ticket to a third country or region and has conditions on ports and travel area. Check that your route and the purpose of your trip qualify.
• If you need a visa, start early. The Canton Fair site has an invitation application for overseas buyers; check the embassy’s current document list for your visa type.

This is general information, not immigration advice.

Planning factory visits around the fair

The fair shows you products. A factory visit shows you who actually makes them. The good news is that some of China’s biggest factory clusters are close to Guangzhou, so you can fit visits into the gap days.

Where	Known for	Pairs with
Guangzhou	The fair itself, large wholesale markets, lighting and décor, amusement equipment	Any phase
Foshan (our China office)	Furniture factories and markets, ceramics, building materials	Phase 2
Zhongshan (Guzhen)	Known as China’s lighting capital: chandeliers, hotel and commercial lighting	Phase 1
Shenzhen and Dongguan	Electronics, LED screens, plastics, machinery; furniture in Dongguan	Phase 1 (Phase 2 for furniture)

A few rules make factory visits worth the time:

• Book visits before you fly. Send each factory your product list and quantities so they prepare the right samples and the right people.
• Assume a booth may be a trading company. Many exhibitors are. That isn’t bad in itself, but you should know who makes your goods. Ask for the factory address, then go and see it.
• Look at production, not just the showroom. Raw materials, the production line, finishing, the QC station and packing tell you more than the sample room.
• Leave slack. Traffic around Guangzhou during the fair is heavy, and hotels near the fair complex in Pazhou fill early.

If you’d rather not travel, we can check a factory for you with a factory audit.

What to bring

Bring what lets you compare suppliers on the same basis: your specs, your quantities and your US requirements.

• Specs and drawings for each product, with materials, finishes, sizes and quantities.
• Photos of reference products, on your phone and printed.
• Your US compliance list. For example: flammability rules for upholstered seating, UL or ETL listing for lighting, food-equipment certification for kitchens. Ask each booth whether it can meet them, and for documents.
• Target prices and order sizes, so suppliers quote realistic numbers.
• Plenty of business cards, and a simple way to log booth numbers, contact names and notes. Photograph each booth’s sign next to the product.
• A tape measure, comfortable shoes, a phone power bank and enough phone storage for hundreds of photos.

Don’t pay a deposit at the booth. Quotes, samples and factory checks come first.

After the fair: samples, factory checks and QC

The fair gives you a shortlist, not a supplier. Follow-up turns that shortlist into a safe order: comparable quotes, approved samples, a checked factory and inspection before shipping.

Step	What to do
1. Sort	Within a week, sort cards, photos and notes by product. Drop the booths that couldn’t answer basic questions.
2. Quote	Send every shortlisted supplier the same spec and quantity, so the quotes are comparable.
3. Sample	Order samples from the best two or three, and approve one. We keep a second reference sample, so the factory and you are matching the same piece.
4. Check the factory	Confirm the business license and that the goods are made where you were told.
5. Contract and pay	Agree specs, delivery dates, packing and payment terms in writing.
6. Follow production	Get progress updates and photos during production.
7. Inspect	Inspect before shipping, against the approved sample. Our own inspectors send photos, video and a written report, and you can join live on a video call.
8. Ship and clear customs	Check for anti-dumping duties before you order (see our anti-dumping guide), then ship and clear US customs.

When we manage the order, the approved sample is the standard for the whole run: if your goods don’t match the approved sample, you choose a remake, a replacement or a refund, at no cost to you. We can also ship DDP, with our partner customs broker and with us as importer of record if you want.

Key takeaways

• As of October 15, 2026, the 141st Canton Fair (spring 2027) dates are not official. The expected pattern is three five-day phases from about April 15 to May 5, 2027. Book refundable until cantonfair.org.cn confirms.
• Phase 1 is manufacturing, electronics, lighting and hardware. Phase 2 is furniture, building materials, ceramics and homewares. Phase 3 is textiles (including carpets), office supplies, health and toys.
• Hotel buyers usually need two phases, Phase 1 for lighting and Phase 2 for furniture. Use the gap days for factories in Zhongshan and Foshan, or have a team on the ground cover one phase.
• Register and check visa rules on official sites only: the Canton Fair site, the Chinese Embassy and the State Department.
• The fair is the start. Samples, factory checks and inspection before shipping are what protect the order.