Consumer products expo in Hainan adds momentum to global economic recovery

Staff do preparation work at the Hainan International Convention and Exhibition Center in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province, May 6, 2021. The first China International Consumer Products Expo will be held here from May 7 to 10. [Xinhua/Jin Liwang]

by Lyu Hui

BEIJING -- Against the backdrop of a rampant pandemic and battered world economy, the China International Consumer Products Expo (CICPE) has become a new platform to demonstrate China's willingness to share its market opportunities with the world and contribute to global economic recovery and growth.

The four-day expo, the first-ever focusing on consumer goods held by China, concluded Monday in the southern island province of Hainan.

A total of 70 countries and regions attended the expo, which attracted 2,628 brands of 1,505 enterprises from home and abroad and more than 240,000 visitors.

The expo covers 80,000 square meters, including 60,000 square meters of international exhibition space featuring products including watches, cosmetics, jewelry, automobiles, yachts, clothing, consumer electronics, food and health products of leading brands.

With COVID-19 pandemic still spreading and world economy on track of fragile recovery from recession, the expo, pooling global high-end consumer brands to tap into the market potential of the world's second-largest economy, will inject impetus to global economy.

Multinational giants attended the expo, eyeing the great potential of the Chinese market, which has become the world's most promising consumer market with a total population of over 1.4 billion and more than 400 million middle-income earners.

As China's economy continues to recover on a firm footing, the retail sales of consumer goods, a major indicator of the country's consumption strength, increased by 33.9 percent year on year to 10.5 trillion yuan in the first quarter, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

The Chinese consumers' rising demand for high-end consumer goods and services is expected to expand substantially and continuously, which will bring new trends and opportunities to the global market.

Justin Yifu Lin, honorary dean of the National Development Research Institute of Peking University, said that China has the conditions to double its GDP scale by 2035, or its per capita income level in urban and rural areas, on the basis of 2020, adding that as people become wealthier, their demand for better lives will also be enhanced.

"The expo has brought new opportunities for global high-end brands to enter and expand the Chinese market," said Swiss Ambassador to China Bernardino Regazzoni.

By connecting domestic and overseas markets, the expo will also help push the new development paradigm of "dual circulation" that allows the domestic and overseas markets to reinforce each other, with the domestic market as the mainstay.

The expo marks a step forward in the construction of the Hainan free trade port as China released a master plan last June to build the island province into a globally influential and high-level free trade port by the middle of the century.

Hainan has implemented a series of preferential policies such as visa-free entry, offshore duty-free shopping and a tax-exempt imports list, which has provided a good channel for overseas brands to enter the Chinese market.

"The appeal of the expo shows the effectiveness of the opening policy of the Hainan free trade port and the optimization of its business environment," said Fabrice Megarbane, president and CEO of L'Oreal China. "Relying on the expo to develop the tourism retail market in Hainan will further release the consumption potential of China."

A report jointly released recently by KPMG China and The Moodie Davitt found that the Hainan free trade port will likely become the world's biggest duty-free market in the near term if it continues on its current growth curve.

Despite unilateralism and protectionism on the rise, China has been holding a series of national trade fairs over the years, such as the Canton Fair, the China International Fair for Trade in Services, the China International Import Expo, and the China International Consumer Products Expo, with an aim to turn its market into a global market, shared and accessible by all.

To honor its commitment to expanding all-round opening-up, China has also lowered tariffs, shortened its negative list for foreign investment, and eased market access in a number of sectors such as automobiles and financing for global investors.