The first China International Consumer Products Expo (CICPE) will be held in the country's southernmost province of Hainan from May 7 through 10, the organizers said Wednesday.
The grand event, co-hosted by China's Ministry of Commerce and the Hainan provincial government, covers an exhibition area of 80,000 square meters and is expected to become the largest boutique exhibition in the Asia-Pacific region.
Of that space, 60,000 square meters are allotted for international exhibitions featuring fashion, jewelry, food and supplements, hospitality and professional services.
Wang Bingnan, deputy minister at China's Ministry of Commerce, said the decision to hold the Consumer Expo is inseparable and mutually reinforcing for the promotion of the construction of the free trade port, which is a major demonstration that China's door to opening-up will not close, but will only open wider and wider.
Wang said the expo will provide a shot in the arm to meet consumer demand as China pushes ahead on its path to transform its economy into a consumption-based one. He added it would effectively bring together high-quality consumer goods, resources and global buyers and sellers, and it will become an important bond that connects international and domestic markets.
A total of 630 overseas exhibitors and 1,165 global brands from 69 countries signed up for the gathering, with Switzerland serving as the guest country of honor.
Leading brands, including Swatch of Switzerland, Swarovski of Austria, Shiseido of Japan, and Dell, Tesla and Coach of the United States, have confirmed their participation.
The domestic exhibition area is 20,000 square meters large, with over 800 domestic participants and some 1,000 exhibiting brands so far.
"The expo is set to attract high-quality consumer products at home and abroad to gather in Hainan and build the island into a global duty-free shopping center and fashion consumption center, thus facilitating domestic consumption upgrades and improving people's living standard and consumption level," said Han Shengjian, director of the Hainan International Economic Development Bureau.
New business models such as cross-border e-commerce and live-streaming will be on full display at the first CICPE, said Zhu Xiaoliang, director of the Department of Market System Development of the Ministry of Commerce.
"Some well-known domestic e-commerce platforms will participate as professional buyers to help overseas brands better explore the Chinese market, while some international e-commerce platforms will connect with domestic consumer products to help them accelerate the development of overseas markets," Zhu added.
Besides the opening ceremony, the organizers will also hold a forum on consumption innovation, duty-free shopping and the tourism retail industry. Meanwhile, the expo's mascot named Yuanxiao was unveiled last week, which is made up of a pair of Hainan gibbons, a rare primate unique to the island.
(Dai Kaiyi contributed to this story.)
(With input from Xinhua)