For more than six decades, the Canton Fair has been an international trade bridge connecting China with the world, including Indonesia.
The presence of the Canton Fair Promotion Conference in Medan City is both an honor and a strategic opportunity, playing an important role for Medan City, which includes:
First, the Chinese community has been an integral part of Medan City’s development for centuries. The presence of the Canton Fair Promotion Conference further strengthens the historical and cultural ties in the context of the modern economy.
Second, as the third-largest city in Indonesia and the economic center of North Sumatra, Medan City has great potential to become a regional commercial hub connecting Indonesia to the global market, especially China. This Canton Fair opens the door for Medan entrepreneurs to access China’s vast market with a population of 1.4 billion people.
Third, the Canton Fair Promotion Conference will directly benefit the people of Medan City through:
- International Market Access: Medan’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can market local flagship products, such as Sumatra coffee, Malay batik crafts, and Medan’s typical food products to the Chinese market.
- Knowledge and Technology Transfer: Through this Canton Fair Promotion, business actors in Medan can learn about the latest technologies and innovations from China to enhance the competitiveness of local products.
- Investment Opportunities: This Canton Fair Promotion opens opportunities for Chinese investors to invest in various potential sectors in Medan City, such as infrastructure, tourism, and the processing industry, which will, in turn, create new job opportunities for the people of Medan.
- Human Resources Capacity Building: The training programs and workshops in the Canton Fair Promotion will enhance the human resources capacity of Medan in international trade.
- Economic Diversification: Cooperation between Medan and China helps diversify the economy, reduce dependence on traditional sectors, and develop the creative and digital economic sectors, marking the transition into the fourth (quaternary) and fifth (quinary) economic sectors.
The Medan City Legislative Council (DPRD) is fully committed to supporting efforts to enhance economic cooperation between Medan City and China.
“We (DPRD) will encourage the Medan City Government to create a conducive investment ecosystem through supportive regulations and clear legal certainty. International economic cooperation programs are one of the priorities in the Medan City DPRD’s legislative agenda,” said the Chairman of the Medan DPRD, Wong Chun Sen Tarigan, at the 137th Canton Fair Promotion Conference in Medan, held at the IT&B Business Institute Village on Sunday (March 9, 2025).
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Wong Chun Sen emphasized that the Medan DPRD is ready to facilitate ongoing dialogue between Medan businesspeople and partners from China to identify cooperation opportunities and address trade barriers.
“To the businesspeople and SMEs of Medan, I encourage you to take advantage of this Canton Fair Promotion momentum to establish contacts, build networks, and explore business opportunities with potential partners from China,” he said.
The 137th Canton Fair Promotion Conference, facilitated by the Indonesia China Business Council (ICBC) North Sumatra, was attended by Senior Manager of the China Foreign Trade Centre, Chen Yun; Member of the Indonesian Parliament, Dr. Sofyan Tan; Deputy Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Medan, Song Jian Ming; Chairman of KADIN North Sumatra, Firsal Dida Mutyara; Vice Chairman of Apindo North Sumatra, Ng Pinpin; Chairman of ICBC Medan, Tansri Chandra; Medan DPRD Member, Dr. Lily Tan; Rector of IT&B Business Institute, Prof (Assoc) Dr. Agus Susanto Tan; and several prominent entrepreneurs from Medan.
Indonesian parliament member, Sofyan Tan, encouraged entrepreneurs in Medan to take advantage of the Canton Fair Promotion Conference as an opportunity to market Medan’s flagship products to China and the world.
“To the representatives of the China Foreign Trade Centre, we hope the Canton Fair in Medan can become an annual event and even scale up in the future,” said Sofyan Tan.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of ICBC Medan, Tansri Chandra, welcomed Senior Manager of the China Foreign Trade Centre, Chen Yun, and his delegation to Medan, the capital of North Sumatra Province, Indonesia, to exchange information about the Canton Fair.
Tansri Chandra explained that since its founding in 1957, the Canton Fair has always been a “golden sign” of China’s openness to the outside world and an important bridge for China to open up and cooperate globally.
Many entrepreneurs have benefited from the Canton Fair, promoting broad economic cooperation between China and Indonesia and strengthening the friendship between the two nations.
“I, along with my colleagues from the Indonesia China Business Council (ICBC), have actively assisted the Indonesian industry and products to enter the Canton Fair promotion and gain many benefits,” he explained.
ICBC Medan hopes the Canton Fair will bring more development opportunities and cooperation prospects for business actors in Indonesia.
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History of the Canton Fair The Canton Fair, or China Import and Export Fair, is the largest trade exhibition in China and one of the most influential in the world. It was first held in 1957 in Guangzhou City (formerly known as Canton), Guangdong Province, China.
The Canton Fair was first held in the spring of 1957, amid the tensions of the Cold War. Its aim was to boost China’s foreign trade, which at that time was very limited.
In 2007, the Canton Fair officially changed its name from “China Export Commodities Fair” to China Import and Export Fair, signaling that China was not only exporting but also opening up to imports. The Canton Fair is now held twice a year (in the Spring and Autumn) and attracts hundreds of thousands of buyers and thousands of exhibitors from over 200 countries.