About this project
Canton Market: the independent guide to buying wholesale in Guangzhou
Guangzhou moves an enormous share of the world's wholesale trade — garments, cosmetics, electronics, toys, textiles — yet most English-language information about its markets is thin, outdated, or written to sell you something. Canton Market exists to fix that: a free, independent knowledge base for anyone who buys from Guangzhou, whether you fly in for the Canton Fair or source entirely from your desk.
Independent third party. Canton Market is not affiliated with the Canton Fair organizers, the Guangzhou International Commercial Port Group, or any government body. We are not a marketplace and we do not sell goods — we publish information, and we cite our sources.
What is Canton Market?
"Canton" is the historic English name for Guangzhou — the trading port that has connected China to world markets for centuries. Canton Market carries that name into the present: a practical, buyer-first guide to the city's wholesale ecosystem.
Concretely, the site has four parts. The market directory profiles 15 of Guangzhou's major wholesale markets — what each one sells, typical price bands, bargaining norms, and how to get there. The sourcing guides teach thehow: verifying suppliers, inspecting quality, paying safely, decoding Incoterms, and writing RFQs that get answered. The free tools do the math buyers repeat daily: landed cost, currency conversion, carton CBM, size conversion, and Guangzhou local time. And the Commercial Port tracker follows the 9.86 km² Guangzhou International Commercial Port megaproject in English — construction progress, investment data, and policy — with every key figure sourced.
Everything is written for one reader: the overseas buyer who needs reliable, actionable information about Guangzhou — not marketing copy.
Canton Market by the numbers
Real counts from this site — not marketing figures. Every number below matches a page you can open right now.
Garments, leather, shoes, cosmetics, tea, seafood, textiles, electronics, toys & more
Browse the directory →Verification, QC inspection, payment safety, Incoterms, RFQ templates + master guide
Read the guides →Landed cost, currency, CBM, size conversion, Guangzhou time, market-match quiz
Open the toolbox →Project hub, data dashboard, progress tracker, and monthly reports
Follow the project →Who Canton Market is for
The first-time visitor
You're flying to Guangzhou — maybe for the Canton Fair — and want to walk into the right markets on day one. Start with the market directory to shortlist two or three markets, then read the master sourcing playbook so you know how MOQs, deposits, and bargaining work before you land.
The remote buyer
You buy from Guangzhou without traveling. Your risks are different: unverified suppliers, invisible quality, unsafe payments. The verification checklist, QC guide, and payment safety playbook were written for exactly this — plus RFQ templates that make you sound like a serious buyer from the first email.
The researcher & strategist
You're tracking where Guangzhou trade is heading — the 9.86 km² Commercial Port, the professional-market upgrade wave, policy shifts. The port tracker compiles construction progress, investment figures, and leasing policy in English, with sources cited next to every number.
How to use this site
Pick your markets
Browse the 15 market profiles — or take the 60-second market-match quiz and get a shortlist matched to what you buy.
Learn the playbook
Work through the sourcing guides: verify suppliers before money moves, inspect before you accept, pay in ways you can trace.
Run the numbers
Use the free tools to quote landed cost, convert cartons to CBM, and check Guangzhou time before you call a supplier.
Ask for help when stuck
Guides get you 80% of the way. For the rest — stall visits, QC on the ground, consolidation — generate an instant sourcing brief with matched markets and next steps.
What Canton Market is not
Honesty is part of the product, so here are the boundaries. We are not a marketplace — you cannot buy goods on this site, and we take no commission on your orders. We are not a sourcing agent — we publish the knowledge; when you need hands on the ground, we connect you with local help rather than pretending to be it.
We are not official. Nothing here speaks for the Canton Fair, the Guangzhou International Commercial Port Group, or any government body. Where official facts matter — project figures, policy terms — we cite the media outlet that reported them, so you can verify everything yourself.
And we are not infallible. Markets change rents, move stalls, and adjust MOQs; exchange rates move daily. We review guides quarterly and show review dates — but always confirm time-sensitive numbers before you commit money.
Canton Market FAQ
What is Canton Market?+
Canton Market (cantonmarket.org) is an independent, free information platform for buyers who source from Guangzhou, China. We publish wholesale market profiles, step-by-step sourcing guides, and free calculators — plus an English-language tracker of the Guangzhou International Commercial Port megaproject.
Is Canton Market affiliated with the Canton Fair?+
No. We are not affiliated with the Canton Fair organizers, and we are not an official channel for fair registration or exhibitor services. We do publish a practical visitor guide to help buyers plan around the fair.
Is Canton Market affiliated with the Guangzhou International Commercial Port?+
No. We are an independent third-party tracker. We compile publicly reported facts about the project — construction progress, investment figures, transport links, leasing policy — and cite our sources next to every key number.
Is Canton Market free to use?+
Yes. Every guide, market profile, and tool on this site is free. If we ever introduce paid services, they will be clearly labeled and the free content will stay free.
Can Canton Market help me contact suppliers?+
We are not a marketplace and we do not sell goods. Use our RFQ email templates and supplier verification checklist to contact suppliers yourself — or answer 3 questions in our sourcing brief generator for an instant market shortlist.
Who writes the content on Canton Market?+
Our guides are written by sourcing researchers and reviewed against public sources. Figures that come from media reports are cited; figures that are estimates are labeled as estimates. When we are unsure, we say so.
Start with the markets
Fifteen wholesale markets, each with what to buy, price bands, and how to get there — the fastest way to understand Guangzhou trade.
Browse 15 markets →Keep exploring:sourcing guides·free tools·Commercial Port tracker·Canton Fair guide·about us