Why Guangzhou is famous for international trade?

Guangzhou has been an important international trade center for centuries, with Guangzhou hosting the largest Chinese fair, the Canton Fair. The Chinese Import-Export Fair, or Canton Fair, is mainland Chinas most prestigious trade fair, held annually in the spring and fall in Guangzhou. Among more than 100 trade shows, the two-yearly China Import and Export Fair, also called Canton Fair, is the largest trade show on the planet, having been held since it was launched in 1957. Guangzhou is famous for more than just its trade with overseas markets, it is one of the historic and cultural tourist cities in China, as well as the well-known home of overseas Chinese.

It is the largest industrial and commercial city, as well as the largest export-oriented, major port in southern China. Guangzhou also has an integrated and complete industrial system together with its neighbouring cities Foshan, Dongguan, Shenzhen, and others. It was the first city in China to benefit from economic reforms initiated by Deng Xiaoping in the late 1970s, and, in large part due to that, it is now serving as the worlds commercial center of China. As the home port for the ancient Chinese maritime Silk Road, Guangzhou is mainland Chinas oldest and only port to ever close.

As the origin of Chinas Maritime Silk Road, Guangzhou has been a major port city. Maritime Silk Road is also known as the China Sea Route or the Spice Sea Route. Guangzhou continues to be an important port and transport hub, being today Chinas third largest city, behind Beijing and Shanghai. In 10th century BCE, Indian and Arab traders reached Guangzhou, Guangzhou became the first Chinese port frequented regularly by European traders.

As a result, the British East India Company, with its monopoly over English trade with China, made Guangzhou a leading Chinese port for the British East India Company at the beginning of the 17th century, and other Western merchant societies quickly followed suit. In response to British attempts to expand their trade into some ports of northern China, in 1757, the Qing Emperor issued an order that specifically ordered that Guangzhou should become the sole port open to foreign commerce. However, trading was restricted until the Treaty of Nanjing (1842) following the Opium Wars, which opened Guangzhou to foreign commerce.

After all, Guangzhou was at the centre of a large tea trade which existed between China and Europe in the nineteenth century. Under Communist rule, Guangzhou was developed into an industrial hub and modern port, and there was much commerce in Hong Kong and China. Now, as one of the major cities included in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA) Plan, and as the main hub in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Guangzhou is growing to become a global transportation hub, trade center, and science and technology innovation center.

Guangzhou has historically been the major port of Chinas south, as well as a main exporter of tea, rhubarb, silk, spices, and handmade goods sought by Western traders. Guangzhou exported mostly silk, porcelain, and tea to foreign countries, while spices were the primary items imported to China from Western regions. The Kangs System, the trade patterns developed between Chinese and foreign traders, particularly British, from the South Chinese trade town of Guangzhou (Canton) in the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries. The South Chinese trade town of Guangzhou (Canton).

Guangzhou is also a globally famous trade city, with the largest global commodity market, the Yiwu international trade market. The largest socks manufacturing hub in the world (Zhuji city), Chinas textile town (Shaoxing town), and the hardware town of China (Yongkang town) are located near Guangzhou. As a major Pearl River Delta port, it is a major Chinese import/export destination, and is in the vicinity of Hong Kong SAR, to which its economy is strongly linked.