ZHONGSHAN, China, Aug. 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — As the golden month of October arrives, so does the harvest season. From October 22 to 25, 2026, the 35th China (Guzhen) International Lighting Fair (GILF) will commence in Guzhen Town, Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province. This year’s GILF has been officially recognized, securing a spot on the “2026 National Consumer Goods Campaign Key Activity List,” jointly issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Notably, it stands as the sole representative from the lighting sector on this list of key annual economic and trade events. Bolstered by this national-level endorsement, the 35th GILF is poised to present a more expansive and professional, one-stop business platform. It will cater to global buyers by connecting every stage from R&D and manufacturing to distribution channels, trade, and after-sales support.
Capitalizing on the strengths of the industrial cluster valued at over 100 billion yuan in Guzhen Town, also known as “Lighting Capital of China,” and its adjacent areas—comprising three cities and eleven towns—the 35th edition boasts an impressive total exhibition area of 1.5 million square meters. The main venue, the Guzhen Convention and Exhibition Center, will operate in conjunction with eight sub-venues across the town. This expansive fair will bring together more than 3,600 premier companies, featuring over 100,000 original product debuts. Exhibitors will benefit from amplified brand presence and more targeted policy engagement channels. In parallel, buyers are assured of dependable sourcing quality and invaluable foresight into the evolving industry landscape.
Closely aligned with the three major industry trends—AI Integration, Healthy Lighting, and Green, Low-Carbon Development—this year’s GILF is pulling out all the stops to offer a comprehensive portfolio of industry activities. A highlight of this lineup is five major themed forums on the full-chain lighting ecosystem, further complemented by four integrated online-and-offline trade promotions. The comprehensive program covers industry trend analysis, intelligent and low-carbon manufacturing, offline channel strategies, specific applications for healthy lighting, and global market expansion. It streamlines the entire business process for buyers and suppliers, from procurement and matchmaking to content creation and influencer marketing, establishing a complete industrial and commercial service ecosystem.
Five Major Themed Forums on the Full-chain Lighting Ecosystem Empower Industry Advancement
Currently, the lighting sector is navigating a pivotal shift from competing on price to emphasizing value creation. Emerging trends—including intelligent empowerment, quantifiable implementation of healthy lighting environments, green and low-carbon compliance, reconstruction of channel structures, and cross-border global expansion—are defining the industry’s forward momentum.
To accurately connect with industry development trends and address pressing operational challenges for businesses, this edition of the fair centers on the crucial domain of lighting optics. It introduces five major themed forums, unified by the central theme of “light.” These sessions are organized in partnership with authoritative organizations such as the China Association of Lighting Industry, the Guangdong Lighting Association, and the Guangdong Electronic Commerce Association (GDECA). The events convene prominent industry veterans, heads of leading companies, key distributors in the retail sector, and other industry practitioners. By fostering a dynamic exchange of professional insights, the goal is to drive industrial innovation and progress, creating a high-caliber, high-quality platform for industry exchange and cooperation.
35th China (Guzhen) International Lighting Fair – Five Major Themed Forums on the Lighting Ecosystem
1. Illuminating Prospects: Forum on Industry Trends and New Opportunities in Guzhen
Date & Time: October 22, 2:00 PM–4:30 PM
Host: China Association of Lighting Industry
This forum convenes authoritative industry leaders and experts to delve into three pivotal topics: First, analyzing the evolving global trade landscape and industrial policy directions to help businesses understand industry cycles and anticipate risks. Second, exploring the transformation from merely “selling lamps” to “selling light and services,” rooted in Guzhen’s 100-billion-yuan industrial cluster. Third, detailing strategies for overseas market development and practical cross-border e-commerce operations to help companies capture high-growth niche markets and forge new paths in foreign trade.
2. Building Intelligence with Light, Achieving Low-Carbon Coexistence: 2026 Forum on Innovations in Smart Lighting and Green Development
Date & Time: October 23, 10:00 AM–12:00 PM
Hosts: Guzhen Lighting Culture Communication Co., Ltd.; Guzhen Lighting Expo Co., Ltd.
This forum concentrates on three core themes: “Intelligent Manufacturing,” “Low Carbon,” and “Innovation.” Experts from China Telecom will discuss opportunities and access requirements for green, low-carbon development in the Internet of Things (IoT), assisting businesses in connecting with policy incentives and expanding their order books. Additionally, leaders from renowned enterprises will dissect real-world case studies of implementing wireless AIoT lighting solutions throughout the production process. They will share solutions for intelligent manufacturing upgrades to optimize capacity, reduce costs, and enhance efficiency, helping companies move beyond low-price competition. Top-tier service providers will also be present to facilitate supply-demand matchmaking for businesses.
3. Expanding Markets with Light, Making Retail Breakthroughs: 2026 Lighting Channel Alliance Forum
Date & Time: October 23, 2:00 PM–5:00 PM
Hosts: Professional Committee on Market Distribution and Services of the China Association of Lighting Industry; Guzhen Lighting Expo Co., Ltd.
This forum will connect mainstream lighting retailers nationwide, hundreds of upstream manufacturers, downstream distributors, and association resources to build an efficient platform for upstream-downstream dialogue. It directly addresses operational challenges faced by distributors, such as declining foot traffic, low conversion rates, and squeezed profitability. The event will feature practical solutions for channel and retail breakthroughs, detailed analyses of operational models, and strategies for collective development via shared customer bases, joint brand promotions, and enhanced operational capabilities to alleviate corporate business burdens.
4. Light for All Homes, Harmonious Living: Special Forum on Healthy Lighting Implementation, Senior-Friendly Solutions, and Cultural Tourism Hospitality Lighting
Date & Time: October 24, 10:00 AM–12:00 PM
Host: Guangdong Lighting Association
The forum focuses on three strategic pillars: advancing research and development for universally friendly lighting environments, establishing standardized lighting solutions tailored for seniors, and creating compelling commercial lighting designs for cultural tourism accommodations. It will bring together experts in healthy lighting technology from academic institutions, full-service designers for senior living and hotels/B&Bs, and top manufacturers involved in practical applications. Discussions will cover the conversion pathways for human factors in lighting technology, analyze challenges and present practical examples for elder care and travel-related lighting projects, and explore collaborations for aging-in-place renovations and cultural tourism lighting ventures, so as to forge a differentiated development path. This initiative aims to help Zhongshan’s lighting companies capitalize on emerging opportunities in healthy residential spaces, the silver economy, and commercial cultural tourism.
5. Global Reach with Light, Profit at the Endpoints: 2026 Guangdong (Zhongshan) Lighting New Media All-Channel Customer Acquisition and Cross-Border Export Practical Ecosystem Matching Meeting
Date & Time: October 24, 2:00 PM–5:00 PM
Host: Guangdong Electronic Commerce Association (GDECA)
This meeting addresses industry pain points such as difficulties in online customer acquisition for lighting companies, high barriers to international market entry, and numerous compliance risks. It integrates the GEO generative engine optimization logic to share AI-driven new media strategies for all-channel customer acquisition, helping businesses achieve content exposure, private domain traffic accumulation, and order conversion at a low cost. The event will also provide a practical framework for the lighting industry’s export journey, detailing end-to-end strategies from KOL marketing and SEO/GEO optimization to localized overseas warehousing. By harnessing GEO, new media marketing, and AI, the goal is to help companies establish compliance advantages and capitalize on AI-driven traffic in the intricate global trade arena. The meeting also includes leaders from e-commerce and service platforms to bolster companies’ new media and cross-border capabilities for global market expansion.
Bridging Buyers and Orders: Enhancing Trade Efficiency at the GILF
In addition to the “five major themed forums on the full-chain lighting ecosystem,” this year’s GILF introduces four key commercial promotion events. These activities aim to optimize the entire workflow—encompassing manufacturer connections, effective communication, lead generation, and sales conversion—thereby closing the loop between online engagement and tangible offline sales.
The highly anticipated “Hosted Buyer Program” will be significantly upgraded. It will involve targeted invitations to high-caliber overseas buyers from the countries involved in the “Belt and Road” initiative and key European and American markets, organizing them into dedicated tours and concentrated procurement sessions.
In parallel, catering to these invited international buyers, alongside domestic professionals responsible for large-scale engineering, cultural tourism illumination, and commercial space projects, this year’s GILF introduces five “Denggle Online Business Matching” in Hall H’s dedicated area. These sessions, a vital component of the fair’s commercial support, build upon the established system of efficient and targeted matchmaking. By utilizing an extensive database of exhibitors and buyers, the system ensures intelligent, two-way matching, pre-identifying procurement lists, product requirements, and collaboration interests to connect the right suppliers with demand, thereby overcoming the common industry issue of inefficient, scattershot approaches in traditional trade shows. This initiative is designed to empower both exhibitors and buyers to identify valuable opportunities and forge new commercial partnerships.
Dual-Engine Content Dissemination: Leveraging All-Channel Traffic to Enable Transaction Conversion
This year’s GILF is creating a dual-track content engine of “Public Co-creation + KOL Deep Engagement” to break through traffic barriers with parallel efforts.
The GILF’s New Media Communication Competition includes categories for short videos and live streaming, encouraging industry participants, creators, and influencers to produce original content. Through short videos and live streaming from the venue, the campaign will highlight Guzhen, showcase company products, and share exhibition details, significantly boosting brand and event visibility across all channels.
A new initiative, the “Trend scouting KOL Fair Tour,” will bring together key industry influencers. These KOLs will tour the exhibition halls, creating immersive experiences for online audiences via scouting short videos and live streaming. This aims to comprehensively showcase leading brands and popular products, generating massive exposure and directing targeted visitors to exhibiting companies through integrated online and offline efforts.
Join us from October 22 to 25, 2026. Under the theme of “Unite in Light, Chain the Future,” the 35th China (Guzhen) International Lighting Fair is your destination for discovering trending products, securing international orders, and gaining insights into industry trends.
