Henco at the 140th Canton Fair: Phase 1, Guangzhou, 15–19 October 2026

Our team was at the 140th Canton Fair in Guangzhou on 16 October 2026, during Phase 1 of the Canton Fair 2026 autumn session. The photographs below are from the halls that day: the Pearl River Promenade concourse, the crowd between halls, and one of the many conversations that start with a catalogue and end with a specification.

This page does two things. It records the dates and layout of the 140th session — useful if you are planning around the fair — and it sets out the questions worth settling at a machinery booth, because most of them cannot be answered in a hall.

The 140th Canton Fair: Dates and Phases

The Canton Fair 2026 runs over three phases at the China Import and Export Fair Complex in Pazhou, Guangzhou. The organiser's published dates for the 140th session are:

• Phase 1 — Advanced Manufacturing: 15–19 October 2026

• Phase 2 — Quality Home Life: 23–27 October 2026

• Phase 3 — Better Life: 31 October – 4 November 2026

The three phases are not three halves of the same show. Each has its own product scope, its own exhibitor list and its own badge, and the halls are cleared between them. Turning up in the wrong phase means the product you came for is not in the building.

Phase 1 Is the Machinery Phase

Phase 1 is the advanced manufacturing phase — machinery, equipment and industrial products. Phases 2 and 3 move towards consumer goods, home products and gifts. If you are sourcing production equipment rather than finished goods, Phase 1 is the one to plan around, and it is the phase our team was there for.

The complex itself is large enough that the walking matters. The concourse signage divides the site into hall groups — 1.1 to 8.1, 4.0 to 6.0 and 8.0 in the area we were in — with the service floor and the food areas below. Plan a route by hall group rather than by exhibitor name, or you will spend the day crossing the site.

What to Settle at a Machinery Booth

A booth conversation is short. These are the questions that decide whether it was worth having:

• Output in your units. Ask for pieces per hour at the size you actually sell, not the maximum the machine can reach.

• Tolerance. For a forming machine, ask what weight variation is held across a shift — not on the first hundred pieces.

• Voltage and phase. Your plant's supply, not the supplier's. This is the single most common expensive mistake in equipment bought at a fair.

• Materials. Which parts are 304 and which are 316L, and what the food contact surfaces are made of.

• Cleaning. How the machine strips down, and how long that takes between shifts.

• Spares and lead time. Which parts wear, how often, and how long a replacement takes to arrive.

• Documentation. Manual, wiring diagram, and what is provided for customs and for your own maintenance team.

None of these can be verified from a catalogue photograph. They can be answered at a booth, but only if you ask, and only if the person on the stand knows the machine rather than the price list.

Before You Leave Guangzhou: See the Machine Run

The fair is an introduction; the factory is the verification. A machine on a stand is a machine that was prepared for a stand. Seeing the same model run on a production floor, with the guards in place and product coming off the end, tells you what the exhibition cannot.

Three things are worth doing while you are in China for the fair:

• ask for a video of the machine running before you leave the booth, so the specification you discussed is on record;

• ask whether the supplier will run your product on the machine, and what they need from you to do it;

• if the order is significant, ask about a factory acceptance test before shipment — a third-party inspection at the factory is cheaper than a problem at your own plant. We have written about how that works in a factory acceptance test carried out by SGS.

Our own production is in Jinan, and a factory visit can be arranged around a fair trip — the process flow page shows what a visit covers.

What We Were Asked for at Phase 1

The conversations at our end of the halls were practical: what machine, what output, what product, which voltage. That is the pattern at a manufacturing phase — buyers arrive with a plant and a product in mind, not with a general interest in machinery.

If you are planning a line rather than a single machine, the individual units are grouped under food processing lines, and the categories behind them are set out in our guide to meat processing equipment. For reference, our report from an earlier session is here: the 135th Canton Fair.

Where We Will Be Next

The next exhibition on our calendar after the Canton Fair 2026 is Gulfood Manufacturing 2026 at the Dubai World Trade Centre from 3 to 5 November 2026, where we will be on stand S-404 with a forming and coating line. Our full exhibition calendar is kept on the exhibition activities page.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is the 140th Canton Fair?

The 140th Canton Fair runs over three phases in 2026: Phase 1 from 15 to 19 October, Phase 2 from 23 to 27 October, and Phase 3 from 31 October to 4 November.

Where is the Canton Fair held?

The fair is held at the China Import and Export Fair Complex in Pazhou, Guangzhou, China. The site is divided into hall groups, with the exhibition halls on the upper levels and service and food areas below.

Which phase covers machinery?

Phase 1 is the advanced manufacturing phase and covers machinery, equipment and industrial products. Phases 2 and 3 cover consumer goods, home products and gifts, so production equipment is sourced in Phase 1.

Was Henco at the Canton Fair?

Yes. Our team attended Phase 1 of the 140th session in Guangzhou on 16 October 2026 and met buyers in the halls. The photographs on this page were taken that day.

Can we visit your factory around a Canton Fair trip?

Yes. Our production is in Jinan, and a factory visit can be arranged around a fair trip so that the same journey covers both the exhibition and the machine running on a production floor. Arrange it through our contact page before you travel.

What should we bring to the fair?

Bring your target output per shift, the size and weight of the product you make, photographs or a plan of the space the machine has to fit, and your plant's voltage and phase. With those four things, a booth conversation produces a specification rather than a brochure.

Planning Around the Fair

If you are coming to Guangzhou for a future session, or you were at Phase 1 this year and want to continue the conversation, contact us with the product, the output and the voltage — we can answer from the factory, where the machines actually are, rather than from a stand.