Visitors look at products in the Hospitality and Professional Services/Lifestyle & Outdoor Exhibition Hall of the first China International Consumer Products Expo in Haikou, capital of South China's Hainan province, May 7, 2021. [Photo/Xinhua]

The Chinese economy has entered a stage of high-quality development, and the southern province of Hainan is spearheading the country's efforts to establish its new development paradigm.

With the first China International Consumer Products Expo in Hainan, the country is giving full play to the advantages brought by Hainan Free Trade Port. The port has demonstrated China's determination to push ahead with its high-level opening-up, and will set an example for high-quality development nationwide, said Vice-Minister of Commerce Wang Bingnan during the expo, which ended on Monday.

The country first proposed the establishment of a free trade zone in Hainan in 2018 and began construction of the Hainan free trade port last year.

The consumer products expo is an essential move toward the construction of the Hainan free trade port and a step toward further opening-up as the province strengthens duty-free consumption to drive economic development.

Official data shows that offshore duty-free sales in the province exceeded 32 billion yuan ($4.98 billion) in 2020 and average daily duty-free sales hit 120 million yuan by the end of 2020, after the annual tax-free shopping quota was lifted from 30,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan per person on July 1.

Offshore duty-free shopping in Hainan has expanded domestic demand and helped push the new development paradigm of "dual circulation", said Chilli Zhou, country sales director of Zimmerli Textil AG, an exhibitor at the four-day event. "Dual circulation" allows the domestic and overseas markets to reinforce each other and takes the domestic market as the mainstay.

The Chinese economy has entered a stage of high-quality development, and the southern province of Hainan is spearheading the country's efforts to establish its new development paradigm.

With the first China International Consumer Products Expo in Hainan, the country is giving full play to the advantages brought by Hainan Free Trade Port. The port has demonstrated China's determination to push ahead with its high-level opening-up, and will set an example for high-quality development nationwide, said Vice-Minister of Commerce Wang Bingnan during the expo, which ended on Monday.

The country first proposed the establishment of a free trade zone in Hainan in 2018 and began construction of the Hainan free trade port last year.

The consumer products expo is an essential move toward the construction of the Hainan free trade port and a step toward further opening-up as the province strengthens duty-free consumption to drive economic development.

Official data shows that offshore duty-free sales in the province exceeded 32 billion yuan ($4.98 billion) in 2020 and average daily duty-free sales hit 120 million yuan by the end of 2020, after the annual tax-free shopping quota was lifted from 30,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan per person on July 1.

Offshore duty-free shopping in Hainan has expanded domestic demand and helped push the new development paradigm of "dual circulation", said Chilli Zhou, country sales director of Zimmerli Textil AG, an exhibitor at the four-day event. "Dual circulation" allows the domestic and overseas markets to reinforce each other and takes the domestic market as the mainstay.

On April 8, China released a guideline to support the easing of market access in sectors including culture, medical services and education in Hainan Free Trade Port, among other efforts to build the province into a globally influential, high-level free trade port by the middle of the century.

Direct foreign investment grew from $340 million in 2017 to $3.03 billion in 2020, and the number of new foreign-invested companies expanded to nearly three times the number in 2019, according to the provincial government.

"We are confident in Hainan as the local government has provided us with much support, and we are convinced that the country has great potential for high-quality development as it consistently furthers opening-up," said Woody Lam, managing director of Savills Southern China.

Since April 2018, 40 centrally administered State-owned enterprises have also established strategic cooperative partnerships with Hainan, and the number of new private companies totaled 307,400 in 2020, up 28.3 percent over the previous year.

Shanghai-based Fosun International Ltd has for 25 years been ramping up its layout on the island in sectors including tourism.

"We will introduce more quality global industries into the development of the Hainan FTP using our global supply chain to sustain high-quality development," said Guo Guangchang, chairman and executive director of the company, at the expo.