This spring, the Canton Fair in Guangzhou once again attracted thousands of industrial giants.
The field of green building materials and smart home is ushering in a competition to upgrade overseas. From simply selling products to talking about solutions and building brands, many companies are competing to see who can win new global orders.
Not only leading Chinese companies participated in the event, but also industry representatives from Colombia, Türkiye and other places actively participated. This overseas upgrade competition attracted a lot of attention.
In the past, most green building materials companies only shipped goods to overseas markets and focused on cost-effectiveness; smart home manufacturers mostly relied on price and technology to attract international buyers.
However, this time the Canton Fair presents a different scene, with significantly more open communication scenes.
Well-known domestic companies such as Guoyi Aluminum and Sofia directly brought their teams to demonstrate new ideas at the exhibition, emphasizing solutions rather than single products.
The “High-Quality Overseas Research Report on China’s Intelligent Bathroom Industry” was also released on site, integrating green and intelligence into the overall solution.
This model is not new to overseas markets, and many local buyers prefer to choose “package” services rather than single-unit purchases.
China’s green building materials and smart home companies have gradually realized that simply selling goods can no longer meet market demand.
Global customers value more “full-chain” cooperation, covering environmentally friendly materials, smart equipment and after-sales services.
Take the smart sanitary ware industry as an example. In the past, exports mainly focused on the equipment itself, but now it has transformed into a complete set of smart solutions tailored to the needs of different countries.
While improving their R&D levels, companies are also striving to create a more international brand image in order to win more high value-added orders.
At the exchange event, representatives of the Colombian Construction Chamber of Commerce expressed their recognition of the quality of China’s green building materials. They not only focus on product practicality, but also pay attention to the environmental protection standards of the entire industrial process.
Some companies demonstrated energy-saving door and window systems, and smart home companies attracted many foreign buyers by demonstrating whole-house automatic control solutions.
Group members of the Turkey-China Business Development and Support Association are more concerned about the implementation of the overall solution and put forward cooperation suggestions on later maintenance and technology upgrades. The exchanges between the two parties are not limited to simple procurement, but also involve long-term projects and joint research and development.
This transformation is not unique to Chinese companies.
A number of European green building materials companies focused on overseas projects at the German exhibition last year, emphasizing environmentally friendly integrated design and full-process quality control; American smart home manufacturers have paid more attention to user experience in recent years, launching customized services and remote operation and maintenance platforms to expand into emerging markets.
This shows that only by proactively embracing “plans to go overseas” can we be more confident in global competition.
However, upgrading the overseas model also brings challenges.
Many traditional companies have shortcomings in technology chain and brand promotion, and some companies are restricted by local market access rules and after-sales systems when launching plans overseas.
For example, last year a smart home company entered the Australian market, but failed to provide a complete technical support and maintenance system. The brand promotion effect was poor and orders decreased.
This shows that transformation does not happen overnight, and that a successful brand overseas requires continuous investment and improvement of service levels.
The exchange activities of the Canton Fair are not only a platform for Chinese companies to display, but also an important window for overseas buyers to understand China’s solutions.
More and more companies are joining forces with international organizations to connect resources and needs in advance.
The on-site resource docking platform helps enterprises and overseas buyers quickly lock in cooperation opportunities, and some teams have agreed on follow-up technical demonstrations and negotiations.
It is worth noting that China’s green building materials and smart home products have been rapidly launched in some Southeast Asian countries, and buyers from Indonesia, Vietnam and other places have shown strong interest in “brand overseas”.
Some companies have transformed their business from simply selling goods to full-process cooperation through localized services and multi-language technical support.
The Southeast Asian market responds quickly and has diverse needs, providing opportunities for companies to explore new ways to go overseas.
Faced with global market challenges, capital, technology and after-sales team allocation are important issues faced by enterprises.
It is generally believed in the industry that price advantages alone are difficult to maintain in the long term. To gain a firm foothold in brand overseas, companies must improve product innovation capabilities, cultivate talents, and carry out localization strategic layout.
The trends at the Canton Fair remind companies that global buyers pay more attention to solutions that can solve a full set of needs.
The high-quality overseas exchange activities of the second phase of the Canton Fair not only demonstrated the strength of China’s green building materials and smart homes, but also made the road to industrial upgrading clearer.
The industry is changing rapidly, and whoever can adapt to the new changes will be able to seize the dividends of overseas expansion.
This upgrade competition has just begun. Who can seize the opportunity of going overseas for plans and brands in the future deserves continued attention.
