This photo taken on April 10, 2025, shows the Hainan International Convention and Exhibition Center, the main venue of the upcoming fifth China International Consumer Products Expo (CICPE) in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province. [Photo/Xinhua]
ByLiu Chunsheng
From April 13 to 18, the 5th China International Consumer Products Expo was grandly held in Haikou, Hainan. A total of 71 countries and regions, with over 4,100 consumer brands participating, and 65 Fortune Global 500 companies and industry leaders exhibiting, the scale has reached a historical high.
At the crucial juncture when the Hainan Free Trade Port is about to usher in the closure and operation of the whole island, this session of the Expo has attracted much attention. As the largest consumer goods expo in the Asia-Pacific region, the China International Consumer Products Expo has already become a gathering place for global consumer goods and a pillar of the consumer market. It not only provides a broad platform for global enterprises to share the opportunities of the Chinese market but also serves as an important bridge for Chinese enterprises to go global.
The closure and operation of the whole island of the Hainan Free Trade Port is a major measure for China to further expand opening up. According to the plan, all major preparatory work had been completed by the end of 2024, and the closure and operation will be achieved by the end of 2025. After the closure and operation, the connection between the Hainan Free Trade Port and the outside world will be smoother.
In terms of the entry and exit of goods, items, and means of transportation, although the connection between the Hainan Free Trade Port and the Chinese mainland is "managed," it also brings challenges and opportunities for institutional construction. Against this background, the importance of the China International Consumer Products Expo has become more prominent. On the one hand, the Expo attracts more domestic and foreign enterprises, capital, and talents to Hainan. Through the platform of the Expo, enterprises can more intuitively understand the policy advantages and market potential of the Hainan Free Trade Port, thereby promoting the rapid growth of the local economy and expecting to radiate and drive the economic development of the inland and Southeast Asia. On the other hand, the Expo helps Hainan become an important gateway for foreign free trade. With the vigorous development of industries such as international trade, international finance, cross-border e-commerce, logistics and transportation, and catering, culture, and tourism driven by the Expo, Hainan's contribution to the domestic and international economies will be further enhanced.
From the perspective of promoting the opening up of the Hainan Free Trade Port, the China International Consumer Products Expo plays a unique role. Firstly, the Expo promotes trade liberalization and facilitation. At the Expo, high-quality consumer enterprises and products from various countries gather together, and trade exchanges between different countries and regions become frequent. A series of trade facilitation policies implemented by the Hainan Free Trade Port after the closure and operation, such as the optimization of customs supervision and the simplification of import and export procedures, are fully applied and demonstrated during the Expo, attracting more international enterprises to use Hainan as a trade hub to carry out import and export business and enhancing Hainan's position in the global trade pattern. Secondly, the Expo promotes international investment cooperation. Many participating enterprises have learned about the advantages of the Hainan Free Trade Port in terms of industrial development and the business environment through the Expo, prompting more exhibitors to become investors.
An exhibitor demonstrates a multi-dimensional holographic AI sensory behavior research system for beauty products at the 5th China International Consumer Products Expo (CICPE) in Haikou, south China's Hainan Province, April 13, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]
Taking 2024 as an example, many enterprises, after participating in the exhibition, have increased their investment layout in Hainan across multiple fields such as high-end manufacturing, modern service industries, and tourism. Moreover, the Expo promotes the gathering and exchange of talents. With the Expo's growing influence, a large number of domestic and foreign professional talents, including high-end talents in fields such as marketing, international trade, and financial services, are attracted to participate. The gathering of these talents not only provides intellectual support for the development of the Hainan Free Trade Port but also promotes the exchange of different cultures and concepts, creating a good atmosphere for the innovative development of Hainan.
For China's high-quality development, the China International Consumer Products Expo is also of great significance. The Expo helps to stimulate the domestic consumption potential. By displaying a wide variety of global consumer goods and cutting-edge consumer technologies, the Expo can guide the upgrading of domestic consumers' consumption concepts and stimulate consumers' demand for high-quality and personalized products and services. At the same time, various promotional activities and new product launches held during the Expo also provide consumers with more choices and benefits, further promoting the prosperity of the domestic consumer market and giving full play to the fundamental role of consumption in economic growth. The Expo promotes the mutual promotion of the domestic and international dual circulation. As an important platform connecting the international and domestic markets, the Expo introduces high-quality foreign products and services into the domestic market to meet the needs of domestic consumers. It also provides opportunities for domestic enterprises to expand into the international market, promotes domestic products and brands to go global, and promotes the deep integration of domestic and foreign markets.
Looking to the future, the China International Consumer Products Expo should further give play to its platform advantages, continuously innovate the exhibition mode, improve service quality, and attract more global high-quality resources to gather. At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen the deep integration with the policies of the Hainan Free Trade Port, promote the coordinated development of fields such as trade, investment, and finance, and continuously contribute to the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port and China's high-quality economic development.
Liu Chunsheng, a special commentator on current affairs for CGTN, is an associate professor at the Beijing-based Central University of Finance and Economics.