CICPE – Asia-Pacific’s Biggest Consumer Products Expo – Kicks Off in China’s Hainan Free Trade Port

The 2nd China International Consumer Products Expo (Hainan Expo) opened its doors on July 26 in Haikou City, the capital of southern China’s Hainan Province. Drawing in over 2,800 brands representing over 60 countries, this year’s Hainan Expo aims to be an expo of firsts, with many exhibitors making their first showing and a number of products debuting over the coming days. Over 100 thousand visitors have attended the expo over the past two days.

Since opening, visitors have jostled to get a look at the high-end consumer goods and one-off designs on display from both Chinese domestic and international companies. Dell launched new offerings for each of their laptop ranges. The environmentally conscious Chinese jeweler GAONAS displayed a unique piece “The Miner’s Tear” which reflects the Expo themes of environmental protection and sustainable development.

France, this year’s guest-of-honor country, brought close to fifty enterprises and 250 brands －ranging from skincare, beauty and fashion to fine French wines and gourmet offerings － to the Expo, making it the country with the largest number of exhibitors after China.

On opening day, L’Oreal launched Hainan tourist retail operations with two of its major brands, Prada Fragrance and Takami. Together with its partners, it also published the “Action Guide for Household Chemicals Industry to Promote Sustainable Consumption”, the first guide of its kind in China. Haikou Global Boutique Duty-Free City and fashion label Karl Lagerfeld signed a strategic cooperation agreement.

A total of 74 events were held on opening day, most notably the 2nd Global Consumer Innovation and Duty-Free and Tourism Retail Conference and 25 separate events by the Global Consumer Forum. Over 20 consumer reports from various professional research and consulting firms on various industries were released. Meanwhile, the 2nd Hainan Expo Fashion Week opened and 48 product launches took place.

The China International Consumer Products Expo is China’s only such exposition, and is also the largest in the Asia-Pacific region. Since the first Expo held over a year ago, Hainan has stepped up the pace in syncing its duty-free market with international standards in terms of product variety, brands and price. Hainan’s offshore duty-free market saw rapid growth over 2021, with sales exceeding RMB60 billion (USD8.9 billion).

Hainan Expo has become an important window for companies outside China to learn more about the Hainan Free Trade Port, the world’s largest free trade port, which has attracted an increasing number of international firms to set up operations within its borders. The last Expo saw Richemont, Taikoo and Pernod Ricard announce their plans to establish bases in Hainan. This year, France’s LVMH and US business analytics heavyweight Dun & Bradstreet declared their intentions to follow suit, with LVMH due to set up a regional tourism retail supply center.

SOURCE: Hainan International Media Center (HIMC)