Duty-free shopping in China is bolstering consumer spending with a spate of policies driving retail sales, and industry players are not shying away from forecasting more gains after the sector's stellar growth in the past year.
The first batch of companies from home and abroad have signed up for the second China International Consumer Products Expo (CICPE) on Monday.
In the years to come, Hainan will build global consumer product centers and strive to create a consumer products expo that "never ends". It will provide a perennial display and trading platform for domestic and foreign consumer products.
As a free trade port, Hong Kong boasts the hard-earned fame of a shopping paradise. But the paradise has been put to the test during the pandemic as the city has been practically sealed off for over a year. It seems that one city's loss is another's gain as the pandemic fueled the rise of Hainan province, a subtropical island with breathtaking sea views, as a new shopping destination.
By making the development of the Hainan Free Trade Port a national strategy, the central government hopes to break through the blockade imposed by the United States and other Western countries, offset the effects of their attempts to decouple the Chinese economy from some Western economies, and explore a better development model, which could be used as reference for other Chinese cities to better promote national economic development.
China's southern resort island Hainan will hold the first Hainan Design Week in November, featuring Italy as the first partner country, according to a launch ceremony of the event held Saturday.
Economists and experts believe that the first China International Consumer Products Expo that kicked off on Thursday offers a platform for companies that seek opportunities in the Chinese market and China's opening-up efforts will help with the global economic recovery.
