As exhibition halls and booths near completion for the much-awaited fifth China International Consumer Products Expo (CICPE), workers are readying for exhibits to arrive starting Friday.
As a key platform for global trade and consumption trends, the expo will take place in Haikou, the capital city of south China's Hainan Province, from April 13 to 18. The Hainan International Convention and Exhibition Center will continue to serve as the main venue for this year's expo, with additional duty-free shopping zones established at international duty-free complexes in Haikou and Sanya. A yacht exhibition will also be held in Sanya.
Co-hosted by China's Ministry of Commerce and the Hainan provincial government and themed "Share open opportunities, co-create a better life", this year's expo will feature expanded international participation.
Over 4,100 brands from 71 countries and regions have confirmed participation, including 65 Fortune 500 companies and industry leaders, surpassing last year's numbers.
With the opening day fast approaching, workers are racing against the clock to complete the exhibition setups.
"By prefabricating the materials in the factory, we only need to assemble them on site, which makes the process more efficient. For example, this exhibition hall started construction on April 5 and was completed on April 9. We will begin setting up the exhibits tomorrow (April 10)," said Tang Wengang, a project manager for the expo.
This year's expo continues to adhere to Hainan's commitment to green practices, with all materials used for the expo requiring an environmental clearance and strict restrictions on cutting or noisy operations on site.
"All our materials used in the construction are environmentally friendly and reusable," said Mao Min, another project manager for the expo.
"I've been attending the expo for four years. Compared to previous editions, the setup speed this year is much faster, and the safety inspections are also more stringent," said Ma Qi, project manager of an exhibition planning company from south China's Guangzhou City.
The CICPE is China's only national-level exhibition featuring consumer products, and is the largest consumer expo in the Asia-Pacific region.
Hainan gears up for upcoming China International Consumer Products Expo
China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) will work with relevant departments and local authorities to take concrete steps to promote the implementation of the newly passed private sector promotion law, a landmark legislation concerning a vast economic force in the country, said an NDRC official.
China's top legislative body -the National People's Congress - passed the private sector promotion law on Wednesday, establishing a legal backing for the steady and healthy growth of the key sector, including more than 57 million private firms and over 100 million self-employed individuals.
This landmark law is China's first fundamental legislation dedicated to the private sector. It will bolster confidence among the vast community by improving the business environment, fostering innovation, and ensuring fair competition, according to NDRC, the country's top economic planner.
"The private sector promotion law has actively responded to the key concerns in the development of the private sector. Efforts are made to establish and improve relevant systems and enhance the enforceability of the systems, from ensuring fair competition, improving investment and financing environment, supporting technology innovation, focusing on regulated operation, optimizing services and guarantees, and improving rights and interest protection, to strengthening legal accountability, so as to ensure that all forms of ownership can equally utilize production factors by the law, participate in market competition fairly, receive equal legal protection, further unleash their complementary advantages, and pursue common development," said Liu Min, deputy director of Private Sector Development Bureau under NDRC.
Liu added NDRC will continue to work together with relevant departments and local authorities to improve supporting systems and mechanisms and take concrete steps to promote the implementation of the private sector promotion law.
"We will make continuous and increasing efforts to remove barriers to market access and to fair competition, to address the issue of overdue payments to private enterprises, to protect the lawful rights and interests of private businesses and entrepreneurs by the law, to implement various relief policies, to help private enterprises shoulder their responsibilities of the era, so as to help translate legal systems into concrete actions and tangible outcomes that promote the high-quality development of the private sector," said Liu.
Concrete steps to take for firmly implementing China's landmark private sector promotion law: official
