口译
Canton Fair Interpreter Directory: 812 Interpreters, Filtered by Language and Industry
At the Canton Fair the hard part is matching language, industry and availability. Our filterable directory lists 812 registered Guangzhou interpreters across 14 languages and 12 industries, each with their own profile (credentials, industry strengths, simultaneous capability). Here is how to use it, how to plan around the 140th session’s three phases — dates and zones rechecked against Annex 1 of the Canton Fair’s booth-application announcement (19 / 14 / 21 of the 54 export zones) — and how booking and pricing work.
Contents
At the Canton Fair, the hard part isn't finding an interpreter — it's finding the one whose language, industry and availability all line up, and locking them in before the fair opens. So we've put our Guangzhou-based interpreters into a filterable online directory: the Canton Fair interpreter directory.
What's in it
- 812 registered interpreters, 14 service languages, 12 industry categories
- Filter by language: English, Japanese, French, Korean, Italian, Vietnamese, Russian, Turkish, Spanish, Arabic, Indonesian, German, Thai, Portuguese
- Filter by industry, using the page's own labels: Machinery & Auto, Electronics, Building & Home, Chemicals & Materials, Textiles & Apparel, Beauty & Personal Care, Medical & Health, Hardware & Tools, Food & Beverage, Metals & Mining, Logistics, General Trade
- Each interpreter has their own page: ID number, languages, industry strengths, degree and university, and whether they do simultaneous interpreting (the page does not show CATTI or other certificates — see the badge note below)
Why filtering by industry matters
Two English interpreters are not interchangeable: negotiating industrial machinery and negotiating cosmetics are two different vocabularies. At the booth, buyers ask about specifications, certifications and minimum order quantities — if the interpreter doesn't know the field, the negotiation stalls. That's why industry strengths are listed on every profile: narrow by industry first, then check language and availability.
The 140th Canton Fair: plan by phase (rechecked against the official site, 2026-09-16)
The 140th session runs in Guangzhou from 15 October to 4 November 2026, in three phases totalling 15 days. The dates and the zones in each phase come from the Canton Fair's Announcement on Booth Applications for the Export Exhibition of the 140th China Import and Export Fair (5 May 2026) and its Annex 1, the Table of Zones by Phase for the 140th Canton Fair — 54 export zones in all:
| Phase | Dates | Zones | Zones listed in Annex 1 (extract) | Matching industry tags in the directory |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phase I | 15–19 October | 19 | Household Electrical Appliances; Electronic and Electrical Products; Lighting Equipment; New Materials and Chemical Products; Hardware; Tools; Processing Machinery Equipment; New Energy Vehicles and Smart Mobility | Electronics, Machinery & Auto, Hardware & Tools, Chemicals & Materials |
| Phase II | 23–27 October | 14 | Building and Decorative Materials; Sanitary and Bathroom Equipment; Furniture; Kitchenware and Tableware; Gifts and Premiums; Home Decorations | Building & Home |
| Phase III | 31 October – 4 November | 21 | Men and Women's Clothing; Home Textiles; Shoes; Cases and Bags; Toys; Food; Medicines, Health Products and Medical Devices; Personal Care Products | Textiles & Apparel, Food & Beverage, Beauty & Personal Care, Medical & Health |
19 + 14 + 21 = 54, matching the "54 zones" stated in the announcement itself. The right-hand column maps those zones onto the industry tags in our directory so you can filter directly — that mapping is ours, not an official classification.
Three special zones previewed so far sit in the Friendship Hall in Area D, one per phase: the Service Robot Zone on 15–19 October (official site, 15 September 2026), the Fashion Jewelry Zone on 23–27 October (official site, 6 August 2026), and the Intelligent Healthcare Zone on 31 October – 4 November (official site, 1 September 2026). The 5 May announcement's wording ("and other related special zones") means more may still be added.
Between the phases, 20–22 October and 28–30 October are changeover days. The venue is the Pazhou complex (Haizhu District, Guangzhou). Match your travel and your interpreter booking to the phase covering your products; all of the above was consulted on cantonfair.org.cn on 16 September 2026, and the latest announcement on the Canton Fair website governs.
What they do on site
Booth reception (receiving overseas buyers, presenting products and prices), client negotiation (price, payment terms, order conditions), factory inspection (accompanying factory visits, quality checks, technical discussion), and post-fair follow-up (samples, contracts, email correspondence).
The two sides use different badge routes — don't mix them up. Buyer-side work (escort, negotiation, factory visits) runs on the companion badge described below. Exhibitor-side booth staffing is badged by the exhibiting company through its trade delegation as an exhibitor or exhibitor-representative badge — and under section 7 of the 140th session's badge notice, anyone holding one of those for a given phase cannot hold a companion badge in that same phase.
About privacy and contact details
Phone numbers and emails on the profiles are masked on purpose — they aren't shown publicly to protect the interpreters' privacy, and are provided by the interpreter manager once a booking is confirmed. You simply submit an enquiry with your language, dates and requirements.
Booking and cost
- Ask about availability: send us your language, dates and requirements, and the interpreter manager confirms availability and a quote.
- Booked by day or half-day, with consecutive multi-day support; the price depends on language, industry and duration, quoted once we have your requirements.
- WeChat, Alipay and bank transfer accepted; VAT special invoices available.
- The quote is the interpreter's service fee and we add nothing to it — but it is not your whole cost for the day: the Canton Fair's companion badge is ¥300 per day (plus a ¥50 administrative fee) and is paid by you to the Fair, full-day assignments need a working meal (eating together or a meal allowance is fine), and travel beyond the Pazhou area is on you.
If all your talking is inside the halls and in one of its ten languages, you can also ask the Canton Fair itself: its Buyer Service Centre provides interpreting inside the Complex during opening hours (English CNY 600 a day at the booth, 800 as an escort; French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, Japanese, Arabic, Korean and German CNY 800 / 1,000), bookable before the Fair, 30 September – 14 October, on (020) 8913-8055 or ISC@cantonfair.org.cn, and during the Fair at its service counters in the Complex (Canton Fair Interpretation Service, checked 23 September 2026). Factory visits, meetings outside the halls and follow-up are outside its scope. If it is urgent, message us on WhatsApp +86 139 2416 6640 or on WeChat (ID Saralee93).
Before you pay a deposit, check one thing: can this person be badged? The 140th session's badge notice asks buyers to have ready "the required basic information, including the accompanying personnel’s mobile phone number and resident identity card number", and does not say what happens if the companion has no PRC resident identity card; if the person you want to bring has none, ask the Fair in writing before you travel (4000-888-999 in China, (0086) 20-28888999 from abroad, info@cantonfair.org.cn) and get the answer in writing — the Fair decides, and we do not answer for it. Anyone filed as an "interpreter" must be able to produce a CATTI certificate, a NAETI certificate, or a foreign-language-major degree from a mainland-China university (140th-session notice, 28 September 2026). Profiles in the directory show degree and university, not those three documents — to verify, ask the interpreter directly, or have the interpreter manager ask for you.
And: whether your interpreter gets into the halls depends on you. A companion badge can only be applied for by the overseas buyer on the Canton Fair website — the interpreter cannot file it, and neither can we. Applications for the 140th session opened on 28 September 2026; a new buyer must first complete their own pre-registration (open year-round since July) and Overseas Buyer Badge application, and the application must go in at least 2 calendar days ahead. The notice also provides that where the companion relationship is not genuine, the organiser may confiscate the badges of both buyer and companion, require them to leave and place them on the Canton Fair badge application blacklist, with no refund for the confiscated badges. The rules are in Canton Fair interpreter badges: what buyers must do.
Further reading: How to Hire an Interpreter for the Canton Fair 2026 and why you need a procurement interpreter for factory visits.
Translation China is an independent language-services company with no affiliation to the Canton Fair organiser.
