As the 140th Canton Fair unfolds in Guangzhou from October 14 to November 4, the exhibition halls once again buzz with the language of global commerce.
Blidi Taoufik, a Tunisian trader with three decades of Canton Fair experience, has returned—to buy and sell, of course, but also for something more: to belong.
Taoufik attends the 140th Canton Fair.
Asked whether he had ever considered skipping the fair after 30 years, he gave a laconic answer: "No."
Taoufik writes on a sheet of paper that the Canton Fair is his second home.
Taoufik is a director of Societe AG-SPEED in Tunisia and Asian Grand Limited in Hong Kong. His business spans Tunisia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria, and employs almost 100 people. He lives in a 500-square-meter villa in Bizerte, a Mediterranean port city in northern Tunisia, where he feels the warm Mediterranean breeze every day. He calls himself "rich enough" as a small businessman. But few know that his fortune began thousands of miles from Tunisia—at the Canton Fair in Guangzhou.
Taoufik places orders at the 140th Canton Fair.
"I always say when you come to the Canton Fair, you sign any contract, you make money. If you make money, you will come back," he said.
Taoufik first attended the fair in 1995. A recent graduate, he was sent by a friend's company to handle categories such as ceramics, artificial flowers and kitchenware. Today his business has expanded to cover machinery, motorcycles and electronics.
Taoufik shows his Canton Fair buyer badge from 1997.
At the fair, his eye is precise. Standing before a motorcycle display, he pointed at the sign and said, "Adjust the sign on top of it. Not these colors." Then, with a small smile, "I like the color red." He added: "Don't use matte finish."
Taoufik checks a machine at the 140th Canton Fair.
That precision is matched, he said, by the speed and flexibility of Chinese suppliers. He recalled taking samples from a Tunisian jeans factory to a Canton Fair supplier, wondering how long replication would take. The Chinese factory returned 10 perfect samples the next day.
"They are very hard-working, very smart and very fast," he said. "Bring them an idea, a sample or a suggestion; they study it, refine it and adjust quickly."
Taoufik visits a Chinese supplier in Huizhou on October 21. (Photo: Blidi Taoufik)
The Canton Fair is China's largest trade fair, where foreign buyers find the most diverse product categories. Last session's intended orders reached $25.7 billion. Taoufik is not surprised. For three decades, every visit has brought a surge of contracts.
Taoufik with a Chinese supplier during the Canton Fair in 1999 (Photo: Blidi Taoufik)
There was never enough time to finish business inside the fair. Discussions continued at night—in the café, the lobby, the hotel. At the Asia International Hotel, where he had stayed for years, the café area was often reserved for traders.
"We talked until nearly midnight," he said. One night, he secured orders from almost 10 companies, and he loaded 10 containers of ceramics the next day.
But for Taoufik, the fair produces more than contracts. "There are bonds, families, connections, friends and money. The fair brings all of these."
He pointed to a photo of Mr. Su, his closest Canton Fair friend from Shenzhen. Mr. Su's family attended Taoufik's daughter's wedding in Tunisia, and Taoufik has a dozen such Chinese friends whose decade-long relationships have grown from business into something like family.
A 2018 photo of Mr. Su with Taoufik and his father (middle) in Tunisia. (Photo: Blidi Taoufik)
Taoufik poses with Peter Peng (far left), his Canton Fair stainless steel cookware supplier since 1998. (Photo: Blidi Taoufik)
"First come affection, love and connection; only then can good business follow," he said. "This kind of bond is special to the Canton Fair and keeps me committed to the same suppliers."
Taoufik with Li Jingyao, an artificial flower supplier he has worked with through the Canton Fair since 1995. He says Li is "like his papa." (Photo: Blidi Taoufik)
Those bonds can be passed down. He now wants each of his three daughters and two sons to run a company dealing with China. His advice is simple: "Come to the Canton Fair like I did. You do business very easily. You choose very easily. You succeed."
Taoufik wears a medal marking Canton Fair's 70th anniversary, one of about 70 awarded at the 140th session's opening on October 14.
Looking ahead, he sees a new chapter in China-Africa trade. He has been encouraged by China's zero-tariff treatment, announced on May 1, 2026, for all African countries with which China has diplomatic ties. His company has prepared Tunisian olive oil to ship to China, and he hopes China will work with the Tunisian government to secure approval for direct shipping. "I think China and Africa will be forever friends and will be successful in the future also."
For Taoufik, the fair has long been a place of return—not just to a hotel or a city, but to a life he chose, and kept choosing, for 31 years.
Reporter/Script | Huang Xinyi
