“My customers told me that they were very happy because the fair is so big, so great, and they found the suppliers they were looking for. So I would say Canton Fair has lived up to my expectations again, as it always does,” said Lincoln Fracari, CEO of China Link Trading, after the first phase of the 126th Canton Fair.

Lincoln Fracari (L) is in an interview with Newsgd.com. [Photo: Guo Riming/Canton Fair Organizing Committee]

Fracari founded China Link Trading in Hong Kong, China in 2008. Before that, he worked for a Spanish consultancy company where he met his ‘mentor’, an influential, experienced bank director. His mentor advised him to learn Mandarin because he believed “Mandarin would be the language of the future.” Knowing nothing about China no the language, Fracari was doubtful, but he took the advice and started to learn the language. Later, he worked with Huawei as a project manager for almost two years. It is then that his interest in China took flight and soon after that he started his own business.

Fracari’s company now has six offices across China and Brazil. It offers sourcing services, international fair services, import customs clearance logistics, and related services for trade and import. Since its establishment, the company has brought thousands of Brazilian buyers to the Canton Fair.

Lincoln Fracari (R) and one of his staff members at the Canton Fair. [Photo: Guo Riming/Canton Fair Organizing Committee]

“We organize international groups for business fairs in China, America, South Korea and India, but our biggest fair is the Canton Fair. We bring around 200 people every year to both the April and October sessions,” Fracari said with pride, “We help Brazilian companies to find products in China and to start doing business with China. We are among the top three companies that offer this kind of service in Brazil.”

As an old friend of the Canton Fair, Fracari knows the fair very well. At the same time, he clearly understands that it can be intimidating for foreign buyers, especially for those attending the fair for the first time. Therefore, he tries his best to help them. His customers attending the first phase of the fair were mainly from construction, lightning, chemicals and machine industries. He told the reporter that a lot of his customers have confirmed that they did some deals at the fair.

Fracari asserted that he will bring more international buyers to the fair in the future. He hopes the International Pavilion for imported goods will grow, offering more booths for exhibitors from around Asia. In that case, he and his customers will only need to attend the Canton Fair to purchase Asian products.

Reported by Monica Liu, Wang Yifan

Edited by Simon Haywood