Business cards of foreign businessmen (China Daily)

Data on Canton Fair buyers has been spreading quickly in the marketplace, arousing much controversy.

Business Cards from around the World Collected

Business cards, which included important information such as the names, addresses, and employers of foreign businessmen, were sold for RMB 2 each to Chinese businessmen who could not enter the Canton Fair for various reasons. They were purchased for the purpose of gaining information on foreign buyers.

Methods of Obtaining Business Cards

In general, the business cards were legally collected and contained real information. Business-card collectors prepared well for their entrance into the Canton Fair, where they requested cards from individual businessmen and in this manner collected a large number.
Various viewpoints exist on whether the sale of business cards is legal.

Canton Fair staffers said it was difficult to supervise business-card collectors, since they obtained the business cards legally and gained profit only by selling the cards outside the convention center.

Some lawyers commented that this issue cannot be not regulated by current law, but instead is overseen by morals.

Private citizens offered different viewpoints on this question. Some businessmen agreed with it because of the potential opportunities it offered to their businesses. Meanwhile, others criticized it, saying it was wrong for people to gain profits in this way.