Do Brazilian buyers need a visa for the Canton Fair?

Brazilian passport holders currently don’t need a visa to attend the Canton Fair for a short trip. Brazil has a one-sided visa exemption from China that explicitly covers business travel, and it applies at every port open to foreign visitors, including Guangzhou’s own airport.

Why this market is different from the other seven

China’s exemption for Brazilian passport holders names business trips as a permitted purpose in its own wording, not just tourism — so attending the Canton Fair to meet suppliers and place orders falls squarely inside what the exemption is for, not a grey area you have to argue your way into. Check the stay limit and any expiry date shown above before booking anything non-refundable — this kind of unilateral exemption is reviewed and renewed periodically, not granted once and left permanent.

Worth knowing if you’re planning further ahead: this exemption’s current renewal doesn’t automatically stretch to cover every future session indefinitely. If you’re booking around a session that falls close to or after the exemption’s listed expiry date above, don’t assume a renewal will already be in place — at the time of the most recent check, no decision on extending the exemption past that date had been published yet. If your dates fall in that window, check again close to booking rather than assuming the answer here still holds.

What this means for the invitation letter

The Canton Fair’s invitation letter exists to support a visa application. Since a visa-free business trip doesn’t involve a visa application in the first place, there’s nothing for the letter to support, and Brazilian buyers travelling on the exemption don’t need to request one. Read how the invitation letter works in general if you’re travelling with colleagues who do need a visa. You’ll still need to register as a buyer and get a buyer badge to enter the exhibition halls — that’s a separate registration step from the invitation letter, and it applies regardless of whether you need a visa.

If your trip runs longer than the exemption allows

Trips that run past the exemption’s stay limit need an ordinary business (M) visa, arranged at a Chinese consulate before you travel — the exemption doesn’t extend itself, and overstaying isn’t something to plan around. Extending a stay from inside China is possible through the local public security bureau under the right circumstances, but it isn’t guaranteed and isn’t a substitute for arranging the right visa in advance if you already know your trip will run long.

What’s next

Check the full visa table if you’re travelling with colleagues who hold a different passport, since the exemption above applies to Brazilian passports specifically and not to everyone on your team.