Thousands of Indian importers and exporters fly to Guangzhou every year for the Canton Fair, and the thing that actually worries most of them has nothing to do with the exhibition halls. It is whether WhatsApp and Google Maps will even open once they land, because mainland China blocks both by default. Get this wrong and you lose touch with suppliers back home right when you need them most, or spend your first afternoon lost between halls that together cover more floor space than two hundred football pitches.
The 140th Canton Fair is on right now
The autumn 2026 session of the China Import and Export Fair, known to everyone simply as the Canton Fair, runs in three phases at the Pazhou complex in Guangzhou. Phase 1 covered electronics, machinery, hardware and vehicles from 15 to 19 October. Phase 2, carrying home goods, furniture, gifts and kitchenware, is open right now from 23 to 27 October. Phase 3 covers toys, fashion, textiles and health products from 31 October to 4 November. Every phase also runs an International Pavilion for overseas exhibitors.
The next session, the 141st fair in spring 2027, has not been officially confirmed yet. Based on the fair's usual pattern it should fall through April and May, but check cantonfair.org.cn closer to the date rather than booking flights against an estimate.
Do Indian citizens need a visa for the Canton Fair?
Short answer
Yes. China does not offer an e-visa or visa-on-arrival to Indian passport holders, and India is not on China's visa-free transit list either.
A business visa (the M visa) needs an invitation letter from your host or the fair organiser, and a Canton Fair buyer or exhibitor invitation covers this. Since December 2025 the Chinese Embassy's online pre-application system lets you fill in forms and upload documents from home, but biometrics still need one in-person visit to a Chinese Visa Application Service Centre in Delhi, Mumbai or Kolkata.
Plan for 2 to 4 weeks once biometrics are done, and apply 6 to 8 weeks before you fly. Processing has been slower and less predictable for Indian business travellers through 2026 than in past years, so the extra buffer matters more than it used to.
What about visa-free transit?
China's 240-hour visa-free transit scheme now covers 57 countries, including neighbours like Vietnam added just this August. India is not one of them. Do not plan a Canton Fair trip around visa-free transit - a visa is required for any stop in mainland China on an Indian passport.
Buy your eSIM before you leave India
Before you fly
✓ Business visa approved and stamped in your passport.
✓ Canton Fair invitation letter printed - immigration can ask to see it.
✓ China eSIM bought and installed on home Wi-Fi, left switched off until you land.
✓ Your hotel address and the Pazhou complex saved offline in a map app, in case it does not sync right away.
Buy the eSIM before you leave, not at the airport. Once your phone is already connected inside mainland China, most providers - this one included - will not let you add a brand new eSIM profile, so this step has to happen at home.
Install the eSIM before you fly, but leave the line switched off until you land in Guangzhou. Turning it on only after you arrive is what lets it connect as a fresh roaming profile instead of competing with your Indian number.
What works and what doesn't once you land
| Service | On a local China SIM or hotel Wi-Fi | On your Olysim China eSIM |
|---|---|---|
| Google Maps | Blocked | Opens normally |
| Blocked | Opens normally | |
| Gmail | Blocked | Opens normally |
| Blocked | Opens normally |
Here is why: your eSIM's data travels out through a network outside mainland China before it ever reaches a local Chinese carrier, so the blocking that applies inside China never sees it. That is also the reason it keeps working the whole trip without installing a VPN.
This only holds while you are on the eSIM's own mobile data. The moment you join hotel or cafe Wi-Fi, you are back on a mainland network, and the same apps stop loading.
Two apps that already work fine, blocked or not
LinkedIn and the paid tier of Zoom are not actually blocked in mainland China, even on a local SIM or hotel Wi-Fi - worth knowing if you are scheduling supplier meetings or a video call back to the office. Microsoft's Bing also works, unlike Google Search.
Moving between the three phases, and side trips
The Pazhou complex is split across several numbered zones connected by covered walkways, with its own metro exit most buyers use to skip Guangzhou's road traffic entirely. Your badge gets scanned at every hall entrance, so keep your phone charged for the QR code even if you are carrying a printed copy as backup.
One eSIM profile covers mainland China as a single area, so moving between Guangzhou, Shenzhen or a side trip to Shanghai does not need a second plan. If your trip runs into more than one phase of the fair, top up the same eSIM from the Olysim app rather than buying again - lengths run from a single day up to 30.
A physical SIM is also available if your phone does not support eSIM - check which phones support eSIM before you travel. For the install steps themselves, the install and activate guide covers iPhone, Samsung and Android step by step.
A Canton Fair trip runs on tight hours between the exhibition halls and supplier meetings, and the one thing that actually derails it is a phone that goes quiet the moment you land. Sort the visa with enough runway, install the eSIM before you fly, and WhatsApp, Maps and your inbox carry on working exactly as they do at home.
