Three names mix in search. They are not the same job. Canton Fair is a multi-category factory fair. Yiwu is small goods and flexible MOQ. Global Sources in Hong Kong sits closer to OEM / ODM and e-commerce brands.
Canton Fair
The largest open catalogue. Phases by industry. More manufacturers with capacity and certificates. Higher MOQ. A booth is still not a line: a factory visit after the fair is the point.
For whom: distributors, own brand, firms that want 10 suppliers in one hall.
Not for: one carton of samples with no brief.
Spring 2026: 15 April – 5 May. Autumn: 15 October – 4 November. Phase 1 is electronics and machinery. Phase 2 is home and furniture. Phase 3 is textiles.
Yiwu Fair and Yiwu Market
Yiwu Market runs almost all year. The October fair speeds the shortlist. Lower MOQ, more trading companies, fast samples. Landed cost per piece easily kills “cheap” if CBM is not planned.
For whom: assortment, test SKUs, LCL consolidation. Yiwu Fair. Fair around 21–24 October.
Global Sources Hong Kong
OEM / ODM, electronics, gifts, home, fashion phases. AsiaWorld-Expo. A bridge between a small test and scalable production. Follow-up is often in Shenzhen, not in the hall.
For whom: brands, electronics, own brand with NDA. Global Sources. April and October, several phases.
Quick matrix
| Question | Canton | Yiwu | Global Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supplier type | More factories | Mix, often trader | OEM / ODM |
| MOQ | Higher | Lower | Mid to high |
| When | Apr/May and Oct/Nov, 3 phases | Fair in Oct. Market year-round | Apr and Oct, several phases |
| Follow-up | PRD plants | Yiwu warehouse / nearby lines | Shenzhen / GBA |
Do not fly all three without a plan
Autumn 2026 overlaps. Hong Kong Electronics Fair is 13–16 October, Canton phases from 15 October, Yiwu around 21–24 October. They can combine. Without a target list that is three bags of cards.
Papillon: one brief, one fair (or one phase), then visits. Business trip.
What no booth replaces
No booth replaces a written sample. Sample takes 2–5 weeks. List research takes 1–3 weeks before the flight. Sea is about 35–52 days. A deposit in the hall before spec is not a shortcut. A low MOQ at a Yiwu counter can still be a middleman who swaps the carton. A high quantity at a Canton booth can be a real line, or a number for someone else’s plant. The check is the same: who invoices and where the machine is.
QC on a sourcing job above 2,000 USD happens before loading, months later. Landed cost counts packing, not the board price. LCL for a trial. FCL when you approach 20' or 40'. The 1 July 2024 agreement still wants HS and COO whichever hall you walked.
How to pick one
Take a Canton phase if the category lives in that hall and you can go to a plant in the delta after the booth. Take Yiwu if goods are small and the first series does not fill a container. Take Global Sources if the product is electronics or a programme where a component code must lock before deposit. Do not take all three to feel safe. Safety is a shortlist of three accounts on the same brief, not three cities in four days.
If you need furniture and electronics, those are two phases or two trips, not one weekend. After you pick one fair, do not keep the other two as a same-month backup. Backup is a shortlist, which can also come from a platform.
Season 2027 sits on the China fairs calendar 2027.
Next step
Send the request: category, quantity, and date. You get a reply within 24 hours, with an outline of the total cost to destination where we can price it.
