Exhibitors from 85 countries and regions, including Spain, Italy, Germany, Russia, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, India, Pakistan, Australia, and Tanzania, attended the 2019 China Yiwu Imported Commodities Fair, a platform for Yiwu’s opening up to the world. The show attracted 48,800 buyers, up 48.41 per cent compared to last year, from 81 countries. 

There were more than 100,000 varieties of daily necessities covering handcrafts, household goods, maternal and baby care, clothing accessories, food and beverage at the four-day fair which closed on May 26, 2019. 

The show saw three professional business matching meetings - Comprehensive Imported Commodities Purchasing Meeting, Spanish Products Purchasing Meeting and Chained Retail Enterprises Purchasing Meeting. 50N Natural Ecology Group from Canada signed a million-dollar deal of flaxseed oil with a buyer from China’s Hunan Province. The renowned Dutch supermarket brand Albert Heijn (AH), with its unique operation mode and local supplies, attracted more than 100 potential franchisees including China’s leading chain supermarkets Yonghui and Trust-Mart. 

Spain had a record number of over 40 companies exhibiting at the fair. In addition, a series of activities such as the National Image Conference, Food and Wine Tasting, “España Fantasitica” Art Performance, and Charity Fair were also held, highlighting the unique Spanish style. The fair had special areas marked such as China International Import Expo (CIIE) Enterprises Area and Sister Cities Exchange Area. 

Yiwu in on the road to transformation into a city buying and selling globally and deepening reform in the import trade. In the first quarter of this year, Yiwu's imports increased by 150 per cent, with import of daily necessities increasing by 811 per cent.