Hainan's Bureau of International Economic Development (IEDB) aims to use the third China International Consumer Products Expo, also known as the Hainan Expo, as a platform to encourage imports of high-quality products from global markets, an official from the bureau said.
The expo will focus on boosting consumption as one of the central government's major tasks this year, Huang Cui, deputy director general of Hainan IEDB, one of the organizers of the trade event told CGTN in an exclusive interview on Sunday.
The event will take place from April 10 to 15 in Haikou, the capital of south China's Hainan Province, where the bureau will also host events designed to encourage consumers to buy more high-quality products.
"This year's Hainan Expo is more internationalized because we are welcoming more high-level officials from foreign countries," said Huang.
The deputy director general said CEOs representing key international brands and their Asia-Pacific branches have been invited to attend the expo. This year's event has already attracted more than 50,000 professional buyers. More than 2,000 are from outside China.
"We've also improved the structure of the exhibition," said Huang.
"We would attract more new exhibitors, more new brands to join and encourage those international brands, as well as Chinese brands, to develop new products to be launched during the Hainan Expo in order to attract a bigger audience, and more consumers to pay attention to our events."
Importantly, Huang believes, the expo has helped expose international companies to China's market in the three years since its inception.
"When new brands join, we take the opportunity to introduce them to the Hainan Free Trade Port, our preferential policies, tax incentives, our unique advantages, and competitiveness as a free trade port," said Huang.
"Some of them later choose to bring business here and start working with the duty-free stores. Or they consider Hainan as a regional hub where they can leverage both geographical competitiveness as well as free trade policies," she added.