Nantong Port. [Photo provided to en.nantong.gov.cn]

The fifth Nantong Cross-Border E-Commerce Selection Exhibition is set to take place from Sept 9 to 12 at the Nantong International Convention and Exhibition Center in Nantong, Jiangsu province, organizers announced at a press conference on Aug 18.

This year's event has upgraded its exhibition space. Starting at 12,000 square meters, the exhibition has been upgraded to 24,000 sq m, the largest in the event's history. The venue will accommodate 600 booths, with more than 400 exhibitors expected to participate, along with 500 professional buyers and over 10,000 industry visitors.

The fair has achieved a significant expansion of its exhibitor base and industry coverage. A dedicated zone will feature seven local industry clusters, including apparel, home textiles, sporting equipment and power tools. 

For the first time, the event will also curate an out-of-province pavilion highlighting industrial clusters from across China. Exhibitors from other provinces now account for about 25 percent of total participants, marking the fair's transition from a regional event into a national sourcing platform.

A notable highlight of this year is the debut of a zone dedicated to artificial intelligence, print on demand, and one-person companies. Twenty AI service providers and smart device manufacturers, including Focus Technology, will demonstrate cutting-edge AI applications in product sourcing, content generation and customized manufacturing.

More than 30 side events are scheduled throughout the fair, including 10 flagship programs, such as sourcing matchmaking sessions and a provincial cross-border e-commerce development forum. 

This year's fair expansion underscores the surging growth of Nantong's cross‑border e‑commerce sector. According to the municipal bureau of commerce, the city's cross‑border e‑commerce transaction volume exceeded 10.59 billion yuan (about $1.57 billion) in the first seven months of 2026, a 47.36 percent year‑on‑year increase. Its business-to-customer sales now account for 11 percent of the provincial total, ranking fourth among Jiangsu's cities.