Consumer expo expands to create thriving market for global brands

With half a year ahead, the Hainan provincial authorities are gearing up to prepare the 2022 China International Consumer Products Expo, and are striving to build the international event into a leading platform for global consumer boutique display and trading, according to its organizers.

Also known as Hainan Expo, the event was first held this year from May 5 to 10 and was a great success. Exhibitors from 70 countries and regions, including more than 1,500 companies and more than 2,600 boutique brands from home and abroad, attended the expo that attracted around 240,000 visitors and corporate buyers.

The event was the first international expo in the tropical province since China released a master plan in June 2020 to build Hainan Island into a globally influential, high-level free trade port by the middle of the century.

The second Hainan Expo will continue to focus on "new high-tech, high-quality and featured" consumer goods.

Again to be held at the Haikou International Convention and Exhibition Center, in the capital city of South China's Hainan province, the 2022 Hainan Expo has been scheduled for April 12 to 16,2022, one day longer in duration, said officials with the Hainan International Economic Development Bureau, one of the organizers.

The event, co-hosted by the Ministry of Commerce and the Hainan provincial government, is seen as an important initiative to better meet people's needs and a significant platform to foster a new development paradigm.

China, considered the world's most promising consumer market, will remain committed to its basic national policy of opening-up and will hold events such as the Hainan Expo as platforms for international exchanges and cooperation, according to officials with the MOC.

In a congratulatory letter to the opening ceremony on May 6, a central government leader said the expo offered a global platform for the consumption of boutique goods.

He said hosting the exhibition would help China share its market opportunities with the world, assist in the recovery and growth of the global economy and enhance China's supply of high-quality consumer goods to the rest of the world.

The total exhibition area of the 2022 Hainan Expo will expand from 80,000 square meters to 100,000 sq m, with 70,000 sq m for international exhibitors and 30,000 sq m for domestic exhibitors.

As China's first international expo focusing on premium consumer products, the first Hainan Expo triggered strong interest among global brands and service providers looking for cooperation or to open premises in the island province and explore the Chinese market through the open policy advantages offered by the Hainan Free Trade Port, which is pioneering the country's further opening-up drive.

More than 80 percent of the exhibitors at the first expo have decided to come back next year, according to the organizers.

Brands that appeared at the first expo included LVHM Group, Richemont Group, Jaguar Land Rover, Burberry, Shiseido, Omron, Tapestry Group, Johnson & Johnson, Dell, Tesla, Swatch, Swarovski, Coach and Hans Yachts, just to name a few.

"More international brands have discovered the vitality of Hainan's consumer market and further realized China's huge market potential through the first Hainan Expo. New brands are settling in Hainan one after another," said Xie Zhiyong, chairman and general manager of HTDF, a leading company engaged in tourism and duty-free commodity business in Hainan.

During a visit to Hainan in late September, representatives from the Guangzhou and Shanghai offices of the Japan External Trade Organization, or JETRO, said they are optimistic about the development potential of the Hainan FTP, and will encourage more Japanese companies to tap the advantages and investment opportunities of Hainan FTP preferential policies.

The head of JETRO said that the first expo was well received by Japanese exhibitors. Japan will double its exhibition area, and offer food and wine brands at the 2022 expo.

Hainan increased the annual offshore duty-free shopping quota per person from 30,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan ($4,690 to $15,610) from July 1, 2020. More than 3.4 million shoppers visited duty-free centers in Hainan in 2020, spending 31.58 billion yuan on duty-free goods, according to Haikou Customs.

The Hainan government plans to build a global center for boutique consumer goods in Haikou, an "everlasting expo" to serve the needs for display and trade by global boutique producers. The Hainan FTP is a huge attraction for global goods to enter China, said officials with the Hainan provincial government.