The Canton Fair Complex will unveil a new smart navigation system during its 140th session to better guide exhibitors and buyers, officials announced in Guangzhou on January 8.
Within the vast Canton Fair Complex, have you ever struggled to find a specific hall, booth, person, or service? Soon, navigation will take you directly to your desired location!
"Within the smart navigation system, we have first introduced booth-level navigation services. It is the first large-scale exhibition venue in China to adopt an innovative integrated positioning technology combining Bluetooth AOA, BeiDou, and 5G, enabling precise positioning even indoors," explained Zhang Shoubin, Manager of the Comprehensive Management Department at China Foreign Trade Centre Group Co., Ltd.
"Exhibitors and buyers will be able to use the Canton Fair app to search for products or booths and navigate directly to any booth inside the exhibition hall, supported by AR live navigation, significantly improving efficiency," Zhang added.
Currently, in pilot areas like Halls 20.1 and 20.2, the deployment of Bluetooth AOA base stations, indoor BeiDou satellite transmitters, and Bluetooth beacons has enabled integrated indoor-outdoor positioning and navigation.
Feeling lost in the venue or have a question? The ASK ME smart agent is here to help! Built around three core scenarios—asking for directions, searching for products, and touring the fair—the Canton Fair Complex has developed an AI-powered tour assistant capable of natural language interaction.
"The ASK ME smart agent utilizes a large AI model. Exhibitors and buyers can interact with it through hundreds of QR codes distributed throughout the complex, asking questions about exhibits or venue services," said Zhang. "For example, a first-time visitor can ask the agent for directions to a restaurant or a specific booth, inquire about services provided, or locate parking."
Zhang explained that interacting with the agent is simple. If a first-time buyer wants to go to a McDonald's in Zone A, clicking on the location will bring up the navigation map for direct guidance—a one-code tour experience with round-the-clock intelligent support, including precise positioning, product search, dining recommendations, and service inquiries.
Now, if you already have a route pointed out for you by the smart agent but still feel unsure looking at the path ahead, the new generation of smart direction machines, focused on instant on-site service, provides direct visual guidance!
These machines offer integrated visual and interactive guidance services. Users can easily search for venue facilities or transportation connections via touchscreen, and the system generates the optimal route in real-time and activates a dynamic directional arm indicator, effectively allowing users to build spatial awareness inside the venue and know which direction to go.
In 2025, the Canton Fair Complex hosted 106 exhibitions with a total area of 8.55 million square meters, ranking first in China for the eighth consecutive year. As a vital window for China's foreign trade and a core engine for Guangzhou's economic development, the 137th and 138th Canton Fairs in 2025 set new records across multiple metrics, elevating Guangzhou's overall exhibition scale to the second-highest in the country.
Reporter | Guo Chuhua
Photo | Guo Chuhua
Editor | Hu Nan, James Campion, Shen He
