Canton Fair boosts overseas expansion of local textile suppliers

Textile suppliers in Guangzhou, the provincial capital of south China’s Guangdong Province, have been seizing the opportunities of the ongoing Canton Fair, the world’s largest trade fair, to expand international market and boost overseas orders.

Held in three phases in Guangzhou from April 15 to May 5, the 139th Canton Fair, formally the China Import and Export Fair, brings together global buyers to explore a vast range of products at China’s largest trade exhibition. At Guangzhou International Textile City in Haizhu District, which gathers nearly 3,000 competitive domestic suppliers of garment fabrics and accessories, has recently rolled out one-on-one business matchmaking event to promote cooperation between local enterprises and more than 40 international buyers from countries and regions such as the United States and France.

“We are specialized in kids garment fabrics. Today, its a great opportunity, I think, you guys have organized this one-on-one business matchmaking. It’s a good, nice concept. I have been to this market several times, but I didn’t get this opportunity. So I’m really thankful to the organizing committee for having me here and giving us this opportunity,” said Ashen Lankatiraka, a buyer from Sri Lanka.

In recent years, Guangzhou has fully utilized its locational advantages as the host city of the Canton Fair, regularly conducting precise supply and demand matching activities, widely inviting global buyers to visit local enterprises and delve into professional markets, promoting more effective foreign trade cooperation.

“We have met the procurement needs of clients in an efficient, precise, and one-on-one manner. Meanwhile, it also allows us to better promote the products of our merchants to overseas markets,” said Xie Jun, chief economist of the Science, Industry, Commerce and Information Bureau of Haizhu District.

British international relations analyst Keith Bennett said the Tokyo Trial was a just reckoning for the war crimes of Japanese militarism, calling for a correct understanding of history and safeguarding the gains of the World Anti-Fascist War to prevent the repetition of such tragedies.

From May 3, 1946 to Nov. 12, 1948, the International Military Tribunal for the Far East was held in Tokyo by 11 countries, including the United States, China, the UK and the Soviet Union, to try Japan’s Class-A war criminals after World War II. This year marks the 80th anniversary of the start of the Tokyo Trial.

Bennett believes the Tokyo Trial played a pivotal role in punishing Japan, the main Asian ally of Nazi Germany, for its aggression and atrocities committed during the World War II.

“I think it’s entirely reasonable that the victors of the Anti-Fascist War, whether in Europe or in Asia, should bring the perpetrators of the dreadful crimes that were committed to justice,” Bennett said.

Bennett said that the multinational participation in the Tokyo Trial made it an important manifestation of the international community’s shared commitment to justice.

“The involvement of different powers in the Tokyo trials [mean] lifted it above a bilateral issue between this or that country and Japan, but about international society and humanity as a whole. The crimes that Japan committed, they may have been committed in China or in Korea or in the Philippines and so on, but they were crimes against humanity,” he said.

Bennett said it is of great significance to have a proper understanding of the history of the World War II and prevent this tragedy from repeating itself. “Whether we’re talking about the Tokyo trials in Asia or the Nuremberg trials in Europe, the point was to draw a line under some of the most brutal aggression and crimes against humanity that we’ve seen in all of history, really, and to ensure that these things should never happen again,” he said.

Yet, due to the leniency and protection of the U.S. occupation authorities, accountability for Japan’s war crimes was never as thorough as the Nuremberg Trials of the Nazi leaders. Fourteen Class-A war criminals were even enshrined at Yasukuni Shrine, their ghosts lingering to this day.

Until this day, some right-wing Japanese politicians still refuse to renounce Japan’s militaristic past, and even question or deny the outcomes of the war.

They continue to pay tribute to the notorious Yasukuni Shrine, revise high school history textbooks to downplay Japan’s wartime atrocities, and deny the forced recruitment of “comfort women” by the Japanese military during WWII.

During the deadliest military conflict in human history 80 years ago, more than 80 countries and regions, involving roughly 2 billion people, were drawn into the war. More than 100 million worldwide were killed or wounded, and global economic losses exceeded 4 trillion U.S. dollars.

To resist fascist aggression, more than 50 countries, including China and the Soviet Union, formed a united front. As the main theater in the East during the World Anti-Fascist War, China paid a heavy price — over 35 million casualties in its fight against the majority of Japanese militarist troops.

Preserving the truth of history is the most meaningful tribute to the soldiers and civilians who perished during WWII. It is also a foundation for reconciliation between former belligerent nations.