KOTRA Sets Up Korean Pavilion at China Consumer Goods Expo... "Supporting Local Duty-Free Store Entry"

The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) announced that it will organize a Korean Pavilion at the "3rd China (Hainan) International Consumer Goods Expo," held for five days from the 11th in Haikou City, Hainan Province, China. The China International Consumer Goods Expo is a consumer goods specialized exhibition approved by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce to promote the development of the Hainan Free Trade Port and the duty-free industry. It is considered one of China's four major national-level (central government-level) exhibitions.

This year marks the 3rd edition, with an exhibition area of 100,000㎡ and about 2,000 participating companies. Countries including Italy, the guest of honor, as well as Korea, Japan, Canada, Thailand, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic will form national pavilions. Global companies from various sectors will also participate, including cosmetics companies (L'Or?al, Shiseido, etc.), fashion companies (Dolce & Gabbana, Burberry, etc.), home appliance companies (Panasonic, OSM, etc.), and automobile companies (Tesla, Bentley, etc.). Chinese duty-free companies such as China Duty Free Group (CDF) will also participate.

A total of 46 companies will exhibit and promote their products at the Korean Pavilion organized by KOTRA. Eighteen companies will participate offline in person, while the remaining 28 will display samples in the national promotional pavilion. The main exhibition items include cosmetics, red ginseng, juice extractors, and kitchenware. The national promotional pavilion is operated collaboratively by KOTRA, the Korea Institute of Design Promotion, and the Korea Tourism Organization, aiming to promote excellent domestic consumer goods and Hallyu culture to major Chinese duty-free companies and buyers.

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Hainan's duty-free economy is rapidly developing, supported by government policies such as the two-tier duty exemption for domestic tourists (a policy granting duty-free benefits to both domestic and foreign nationals leaving Hainan for mainland China). Last October, the world's largest single duty-free store (with a building area of about 930,000㎡ and a sales area of about 290,000㎡) was newly opened in the region.

KOTRA's Guangzhou Trade Center plans to promote the Korea-China South China Future Cooperation Forum during the event to explore opportunities for entering the Chinese duty-free market amid the expansion of the Hainan duty-free market and the transition to the post-COVID-19 era. In cooperation with Haikou CCPIT, the forum will be held on the 13th in both online and offline formats to discuss opportunities for domestic companies to enter the market following the development and support policies of the Hainan Free Trade Port. Practical topics such as Hainan's duty-free policies and store entry policies will also be covered.

Hong Chang-pyo, head of KOTRA's China Regional Headquarters, said, "Thanks to China's consumption promotion policies and the reopening of economic activities, cooperation opportunities between consumer goods companies from both countries are expected to increase." He added, "Based on the expo, we will do our best to support the entry of our excellent consumer goods into duty-free stores and pioneer the Chinese consumer goods market."

Meanwhile, the expo will also host activities to promote the bid for the "2030 Busan World Expo." KOTRA plans to promote the global city of Busan with various videos and images to Chinese local governments, corporate officials, and exhibition visitors, striving to support the Expo bid.

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