If you buy machines, four shows in China matter, and they are not interchangeable. Two sit in Guangzhou and Shanghai in the autumn, one is in Beijing in the spring, and one is about everything a factory needs except the machine itself.
Picking the wrong one costs you a flight and four days. Here is the short version we give clients.
1. Canton Fair, Guangzhou — April and October
Three phases, the biggest of the four, and the only one where you will also find the components and the packaging and the guy who sells the mould. Phase one carries machinery and tools; if your interest is equipment rather than consumer goods, go to phase one and ignore the rest.
Airport: Guangzhou Baiyun (CAN), fifty minutes by metro.
Behind it: Dongguan, Foshan, Shenzhen, Huizhou, Zhongshan — the densest light-manufacturing cluster in the country.
2. bauma CHINA, Shanghai — 23–27 November 2026
The construction and mining machinery show. If you buy excavators, crushers, concrete equipment or the parts that go into them, this is the one where the technical people are actually on the stand — not a salesperson reading a spec sheet.
It runs across two sites, SWEECC and SNIEC, so check which hall your target is in before you book a hotel on the wrong side of the river.
Airport: Shanghai Pudong (PVG) or Hongqiao (SHA). Hongqiao is closer to SNIEC; Pudong is fine if you land at a civilised hour.
Behind it: Suzhou, Wuxi, Ningbo, Hangzhou, Nantong — heavier engineering, and a lot of the component suppliers.
3. CIMT, Beijing — April, odd years
Machine tools. Metal cutting, forming, measuring. Smaller than the other three and more specialised: if you need a machining centre or a grinder, the people who build them are here and they will talk about tolerance for an hour if you let them.
It is held in odd years, so check the calendar before you plan anything.
Airport: Beijing Capital (PEK) or Daxing (PKX).
Behind it: Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong — the north-east industrial belt, not the Pearl River Delta.
4. CIIF, Shanghai — September
The industrial fair that covers everything: robotics, automation, new energy, machining, parts. It is the broadest of the four and the easiest one to get lost in. Go with a list.
Airport: PVG or SHA.
Behind it: the same Yangtze Delta cluster as bauma CHINA.
Which airport for which factory cluster
- CAN (Guangzhou) → Dongguan, Shenzhen, Foshan, Huizhou, Zhongshan. Light manufacturing, electronics, furniture, hardware.
- PVG / SHA (Shanghai) → Suzhou, Wuxi, Ningbo, Hangzhou, Nantong. Precision parts, machinery, textiles, chemicals.
- PEK / PKX (Beijing) → Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong. Heavy industry, machine tools, steel.
Almost nobody gets this wrong on purpose. They get it wrong by booking the show first and discovering the factory is nine hundred kilometres away.
Three questions before you book
- Which show has my product, not my industry? "Industrial" covers everything from a robot arm to a bolt. Read the exhibitor list for your actual part number.
- Am I going to see machines, or to see factories? If it is factories, the show is only the excuse. Book the extra days.
- Who is meeting me there? A show is four days of walking. Having someone who can read the Chinese spec sheet and ask the follow-up question is worth more than the flight.
Before you trust anyone, including us
We are a registered trading company in Dongguan, and our business license is on the About page — registration number 91441900MAKBTADYX3, with the registered address and legal name on the same page. Check it, and check anyone else you plan to send money to.
What we do at each stage, and what we refuse to do, is on FAQ & Customer Q&A.
