Consumer goods expo opens in Hainan

China will leverage the advantages of the Hainan Free Trade Port, featuring comprehensive and deepened reform as well as high-level experimental opening-up policies, to deepen bilateral, multilateral and regional cooperation and join hands with all parties to create a better future for mankind, President Xi Jinping said on Thursday.

Hosting the first China International Consumer Products Expo, which opens on Friday, offers a global platform for boutique consumption, Xi said in a congratulatory letter to the exhibition's opening ceremony in Haikou, capital of Hainan province.

Xi said hosting the exhibition will help China share its market opportunities with the world, assist the recovery and growth of the world economy and enhance China's supply of higher-quality consumer goods to the rest of the world.

He called for guests from around the globe and people from all walks of life to deepen exchanges and seek cooperation to better serve the people of all nations.

The event, which runs through Monday, involves nearly 1,500 enterprises from around 70 countries and regions. Covering an exhibition space of 80,000 square meters, the inaugural expo, co-organized by the Ministry of Commerce and the Hainan provincial government, is set to become the largest boutique exhibition in the Asia-Pacific region.

A total of 1,365 international brands will display in categories including fashion, jewelry, lifestyle and outdoors and food, as well as hospitality and professional services, organizers said at a media briefing on Thursday.

Some 1,263 domestic brands including Huawei, Gree and iFlytek are also joining the event. Pavilions of provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions of China are poised to bring local boutique goods and time-honored brands to a wider audience.

Wang Bingnan, vice-minister of commerce, said in March that the expo will bring together high-quality consumer goods, resources and global buyers and sellers, and it will become an important link between the international and domestic markets.

Over 200,000 visitors are expected to attend the event, which will include 81 new product debuts. Leading brands, including Swatch of Switzerland, Austria's Swarovski, Shiseido from Japan, and Dell from the United States, have confirmed their participation.

French cosmetics giant L'Oreal is bringing exclusive product launches and immersive experiences to the expo with a dedicated 500-square-meter booth.

"Hainan's further opening-up shows an innovative way to stimulate consumption, and we believe it will be certainly a well-balanced strategy to satisfy consumers' huge appetite for beauty and bring it to all," said Fabrice Megarbane, president of L'Oreal North Asia Zone and CEO of L'Oreal China.

In June 2020, China released a master plan for policies that would support the creation and development of the Hainan Free Trade Port. The goal is to develop Hainan island into a globally influential duty-free trading center by the middle of the century.

"A combination of government policies, enhanced infrastructure and people's strong demand for duty-free merchandise will give a definite boost to Hainan's offshore duty-free sales," said Jason Yu, general manager of consultancy Kantar Worldpanel China.