Foreign business leaders and exhibitors, including those who come from Pakistan, have voiced hope for expanding their presence in the Chinese market.
They were attending the third China International Consumer Products Expo (CICPE).
Scheduled from April 10 to April 15, the 3rd CICPE, or Hainan Expo was being held in Haikou, Hainan, China, drawing over 3,300 brands from 65 countries and regions to share the dividends of the world’s second-largest consumer market.
At the Hainan International Convention and Exhibition Center, Aqeel Ahmed Chaudhry, a jeweler from Pakistan, was busy showing his dazzling products to visitors attending the CICPE, CEN reported.
It was Chaudhry’s first time attending the consumer products expo. Living in China for more than a decade, he launched WINZA Jewelry in Shanghai’s glitzy business district.
How can people seek a foothold in China’s increasingly competitive jewelry market? Chaudhry knows it back to front.
China’s consumer market has seen notable progress in scale and quality over the past decade.
Retail sales of consumer goods in China exceeded 40 trillion (about 5.81 trillion) in 2019 and hit 44 trillion in 2022, more than double the 2012 figure, said Xu Xingfeng, director of the Ministry of Commerce (MOC)’s consumption promotion department, at a global consumption innovation, duty free and travel retail conference being held as part of the ongoing expo.
To ride this wave, Chaudhry signed agreements with Zhuhai Duty Free Enterprises Group Co., Ltd. (Zhuhai Duty Free) and Hainan Tourism Investment Duty Free Co., Ltd. (HTDF), to brighten the brand with new opportunity of offshore duty-free shopping in Hainan.
“We plan to open a retail store in Zhuhai Duty Free complex, which is expected to be completed by 2025,” Chaudhry told China Economic Net, adding that a 3-year agreement was also signed with HTDF at the 3rd CICPE to boost the brand’s offshore duty-free sales.
Back in April 2018, China announced a decision to support Hainan in developing the whole island into a pilot free trade zone and gradually exploring and steadily promoting the establishment of a free trade port with Chinese characteristics.
According to a master plan on the Hainan free trade port (Hainan FTP) released in 2020 by the Chinese government, the Hainan FTP is scheduled to initiate independent customs operations throughout the whole island by the end of 2025.
