Short answer: Yes, the Canton Fair is worth it for bicycle sourcing, provided you treat it as a supplier-verification trip rather than a browsing trip. Bicycles, e-bikes and two-wheeler spare parts exhibit in Phase 1 at the Pazhou Complex in Guangzhou, alongside vehicles and machinery; most accessories and consumer categories appear in later phases. The spring session runs from mid-April to early May, the autumn session from mid-October to early November, each in three phases of about five days. The return comes from what you do at the booth: check the business licence, ride the samples, photograph the welds, and book factory visits for the days immediately after.
Which phase are bicycles in, and when does the fair run?
Each session of the Canton Fair (China Import and Export Fair) has three phases of roughly five days, with a two- or three-day changeover while the halls are stripped and rebuilt. Nothing carries over: arrive in Phase 3 looking for complete bicycles and the bicycle halls no longer exist.
Bicycles sit in Phase 1, in the vehicles and two-wheelers grouping, with e-bikes, electric scooters and two-wheeler parts. Frames, wheelsets, hubs, chains, brakes, lighting and battery packs are a short walk away in the same phase, so a complete-bike supplier and its component sources can be compared in one afternoon.
| Phase | Typical timing | Main categories | Relevance for bike buyers |
| Phase 1 | Around 15-19 April and 15-19 October | Bicycles, e-bikes, motorcycles and parts; vehicles; machinery; electronics; hardware; lighting | High. The phase to attend |
| Phase 2 | Around 23-27 April and 23-27 October | Consumer goods, home products, gifts, kitchenware | Low. Packaging and display suppliers only |
| Phase 3 | Around 1-5 May and 31 October-4 November | Textiles, shoes, bags, toys, recreation and sporting goods | Medium. Helmets, clothing, child seats, ride-on toys |
Dates move by a day or two each year, so confirm the calendar on the official fair site before booking flights.
How do you register and get into China?
Buyer registration is free through the official Canton Fair invitation portal. Upload your passport bio page and a company document, and you receive a badge number plus a downloadable invitation letter. Register two to four weeks ahead: on-site registration exists, but opening-day queues are long and the letter is what your visa application needs.
That letter supports a Chinese M visa, the category for commercial and trade activities; consulate processing usually takes several working days, so start a month out. China has also expanded visa-free entry for a growing list of nationalities, and a transit exemption of up to 240 hours applies at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport for eligible travellers continuing to a third country. These rules are nationality-specific and change often. Book hotels early; rooms near Pazhou go months in advance.
What should you actually do at the booth?
Most first-time buyers walk the halls and leave with a folder of unverifiable brochures. Treat each promising booth as a fifteen-minute audit instead.
- Ask for a photo of the business licence. Check the unified social credit code, registered capital, business scope and address. Manufacturing of bicycles at an industrial address reads very differently from sales of bicycles at an office tower.
- Ask whether the booth company is the manufacturer or an agent. Neither disqualifies anyone, but it determines who controls tooling, quality control and lead time.
- Test-ride the display sample. A few metres in the aisle reveal brake lever reach, freewheel engagement, headset play and whether the wheels run true.
- Photograph the welds and dropouts. Close-ups of the head tube junction, bottom bracket shell and rear dropouts tell you more than any catalogue. Evenly stacked welds and clean paint at the weld edges indicate a controlled process.
- Ask for certificates by name and number. EN ISO 4210 for city, mountain and road bikes; EN ISO 8098 for children's bicycles; EN 15194 for electrically power assisted cycles; CPSC 16 CFR 1512 for the United States; UL 2849 and UL 2271 for e-bike systems and batteries; UN 38.3 for lithium battery transport; ISO 9001 for the quality system. Confirm the model, the issue date and the company named on the report.
- Pin down MOQ per model and per colour. Useful benchmarks: e-bikes 25-50 units, road 25-75, city and commuter 50-150, mountain 50-100, folding 50-100, kids 100-250.
- Agree the commercial frame in writing. HS code (8712.00 bicycles, 8711.60 e-bikes), Incoterm (EXW, FOB, CIF or DDP), loading figures per 20ft, 40ft and 40ft HQ container, sample and production lead times in days.
- Photograph the booth number, the sign and your contact. By day three every booth looks identical in your notes.
Two days in Phase 1 is usually enough: a wide sweep on day one, a return to a shortlist of six or eight booths on day two. Our bicycle catalogue and OEM and ODM overview supply the specification vocabulary worth taking with you.
How should you plan factory visits after the fair?
Book factory visits for the days after the fair closes, and route them by cluster rather than by enthusiasm.
- Guangdong (Guangzhou, Foshan, Shenzhen, Dongguan) for e-bikes, folding and kids' bikes, battery packs. Same-day drive from the fairground.
- Tianjin, especially Wuqing, the highest-volume cluster for city, kids and entry-level mountain bikes.
- Kunshan, Taicang and Suzhou near Shanghai for alloy frames, upper-tier assembly and drive units.
- Xiamen for carbon frames and road bikes.
Allow one factory per half-day and a travel half-day between clusters. Three factories across two clusters in three days is realistic; six in three cities is not. Ask for a running production line, not a showroom tour, and look at the welding jigs, the paint line and the final QC station.
Which other shows complement the Canton Fair?
| Show | Where and when | Good for |
| Canton Fair, Phase 1 | Guangzhou, April and October | The widest supplier base across every bike category plus parts |
| China International Bicycle Fair | Shanghai, May | The specialist Chinese cycling show; deeper on components and e-bike drive systems |
| Taipei Cycle | Taipei, March | Taiwanese components, high-end frames, technology direction |
| Eurobike | Germany, summer | Reading the European market, brand positioning and regulation |
Frequently asked questions
Which Canton Fair phase are bicycles in?
Bicycles, e-bikes and two-wheeler spare parts are in Phase 1, the vehicles and machinery phase, usually around 15-19 April and 15-19 October. Complete bikes and their component suppliers share that phase. Helmets, apparel and child seats are mostly in Phase 3.
Is the Canton Fair buyer badge free?
Yes. Registration through the official Canton Fair invitation portal costs nothing and produces a badge number and a downloadable invitation letter. Register two to four weeks ahead so you can use the letter for your visa application and skip the opening-day queues.
Do I need a visa to attend the Canton Fair?
It depends on your passport. The invitation letter supports an M visa application for commercial and trade activities, and processing usually takes several working days. Many nationalities now enter visa-free for short business trips, and a transit exemption of up to 240 hours applies at Guangzhou Baiyun for eligible travellers continuing to a third country.
Are the companies at the booths real bicycle factories?
Some are; many are trading companies representing one or more factories. Neither is a problem in itself, but it changes who controls tooling, quality control and lead times. Ask for a photo of the business licence and read the business scope and registered address.
Can I place an order at the booth?
Sign nothing binding on a show floor. Take the specification, MOQ, lead times, HS code and Incoterm in writing, then confirm with a pre-production sample and a factory visit or third-party inspection. Serious suppliers expect this.
Is the fair better than sourcing online?
They answer different questions. Online platforms generate a long list of candidates; the fair eliminates the wrong ones quickly, because you can handle the product and meet the people in one afternoon. Build the shortlist online, then use the fair to verify it.
Planning your trip
If you want a shortlist of pre-verified bicycle and e-bike suppliers to meet in Phase 1, or a Guangzhou-based team to walk the fair and the factory visits with you, start with our importer guide and get in touch.
