Dark truth surrounding Guangzhou Commodity Trade Fair Dark truth surrounding Guangzhou Commodity Trade Fair Private enterprise owners in Zhejiang province want to participate in the Guangzhou Commodity Trade Fair. Although they are now allowed to freely trade with foreign companies, they cannot even claim a place at the fair, which is restricted to state-owned companies because of limited space.
SOEs sell vacant stands to private enterprises illegally, and fair administrators impose fines.
Zhejiang Lianhua Clothes president says even if they spent more than RMB100,000 buying a stand, fair administrators will fine and ban them from attending the fair. The stand will be sold to other private business owners, and then they will face the same outcome. Private enterprises may have their products displayed at the booths of state-owned foreign trade companies after they pay foreign trade companies a few thousand RMB or more than RMB10,000 each day for one type of product. Unfair treatment results in corruption and prevents the development of the private economy. Private enterprises demand abolition of the rules banning trade fairs in different regions.