Why is the Consumer Goods Expo still being held?

The first China International Consumer Products Expo (hereinafter referred to as the Consumer Expo) will be held in Haikou, Hainan Province from May 7 to 10. The Expo is co-hosted by the Ministry of Commerce and the Hainan Provincial People's Government. This was learned from a press conference held by the State Council Information Office today.

At the meeting, Wang Bingnan, Vice Minister of Commerce, said that China's hosting of exhibitions such as the Consumer Expo makes it a platform for international exchange and cooperation, a window for opening up, and plays a comprehensive role in large-scale exhibitions, promoting high-level opening up, smoothing domestic circulation, promoting domestic and international dual circulation, and building a new development pattern.

Given the existing three platforms for opening up – the Canton Fair, the CIIE, and the CIFTIS – why hold another Consumer Expo?

"The Canton Fair mainly focuses on goods exports, the CIIE mainly focuses on the import of goods and some services, and the CIFTIS mainly focuses on expanding opening up in the service sector, while the Consumer Expo is positioned as a global platform for the display and trading of international consumer goods," Wang Bingnan said.

The exhibition industry is an important support and leading industry of the national economy, and an important platform for promoting higher-level opening up and high-quality economic development. According to the introduction, the Ministry of Commerce will focus on building an exhibition pattern that adapts to regional coordinated development, accelerate the construction of an exhibition industry system with reasonable layout, distinct characteristics, clear levels, and strong international competitiveness, expand and strengthen several national-level comprehensive exhibitions, create a number of large-scale mechanism-based multilateral and bilateral economic and trade exhibition platforms, and support various places in cultivating a number of high-quality regional exhibition platforms.

Holding the Consumer Expo is also inseparable from promoting the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port. The "Overall Plan for the Construction of Hainan Free Trade Port" issued earlier clearly defined the positioning of Hainan International Tourism Consumption Center.

Wang Bingnan said that holding the Consumer Expo is a practical action to implement the central government's decisions and deployments and to build the Hainan International Tourism Consumption Center, and it is also an important measure to promote the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port. It will help to accelerate the innovative development of services in the free trade port and create a new highland for opening up.

"The Consumer Expo is not just Hainan's Consumer Expo, but also the Consumer Expo of the whole country and the world ." Shen Danyang, Executive Vice Governor of Hainan Province, introduced, The first Consumer Expo focuses on "high, new, excellent, and special" consumer goods and strives to achieve a leading domestic level in terms of internationalization, unit area product value, and the number of first releases and exhibitions, making it an important platform for the display and trading of global consumer goods. It provides opportunities for consumer goods from various countries to enter the Chinese market, and also creates business opportunities for consumer goods from various parts of China and other countries to be sold worldwide.

In addition, holding the Consumer Expo is also to better meet the needs of people's lives Last year, China's per capita GDP exceeded US$10,000, and has entered an important stage of consumption upgrading. However, the capacity for high-quality supply is still unable to better meet the people's growing needs for a better life.

Wang Bingnan said that holding the Consumer Expo is to adhere to the main line of supply-side structural reform, adhere to the theme of high-quality development, attract domestic and international consumer goods, integrate the preferential policies of the free trade port, expand effective and high-end supply, and better meet the people's needs for a better life.

At the Consumer Expo, consumers will receive many tangible benefits Han Shengjian, director of the Hainan International Economic Development Bureau, introduced that the Consumer Expo is divided into international and domestic zones. The international exhibition area is divided into five professional exhibition areas: fashion life, diamonds and jewelry, high-end food and health products, travel and living, and comprehensive services. Currently, it has gathered 1,165 international brands. In the domestic exhibition area, various places across the country are organizing consumer goods and time-honored brands to participate in the exhibition. So far, the number of brands that have registered to participate in the exhibition has exceeded 1,000. At that time, consumers can buy a wide variety of goods in the exhibition hall, including the latest jewelry, brand watches, consumer electronics, food and health products, and time-honored brands.

In addition to being able to buy a wide variety of goods, relevant national departments are formulating tax-free policies for exhibits at the Consumer Expo, and a certain quantity and amount of overseas exhibits can enjoy tax-free import and sales during the exhibition period.

"The tax-free policy for the Consumer Expo and the Hainan offshore duty-free policy are different, and it does not occupy the 100,000 yuan quota for offshore duty-free shopping." Han Shengjian explained that in addition to being able to buy domestic goods and tax-free foreign exhibits at the exhibition venue, visitors from outside the island can also purchase products worth 100,000 yuan at duty-free shops in Haikou and Sanya. At that time, various duty-free shops will launch a variety of discount promotions, which is a very good shopping opportunity.

Source | International Business Daily Editor | Wang Junjie