SHANGHAI — The third edition of the China International Consumer Products Expo, also generally known as Hainan Expo, kicked off on Tuesday in Haikou, the capital of Hainan Island, China‘s duty-free shopping haven.

As the primary large-scale international expo after China’s reopening, the five-day trade fair showcased greater than 3,300 brands from China and abroad, up from last yr’s 2,800 participants.

Keen on keeping luxury spending onshore, Chinese authorities have been actively cracking down on Daigou and heavily promoting local retail hubs akin to Hainan and Hong Kong.

In line with official data, for the primary quarter of this yr, Hainan welcomed 26.8 million visitors to the island, a rise of 20.2 percent in comparison with the identical time last yr. Total tourism revenue increased 25 percent year-over-year to 53 billion renminbi, or $7.7 billion.

To further unleash consumption potential, the Chinese government revealed last month that Hainan will likely be permitted to ascertain its own international customs system by 2025, which suggests travelers can enjoy splurging on luxury goods and wonder products outside of the 12 existing certified malls.

To appreciate Hainan’s ambitious transformation right into a duty-free paradise and the world’s largest free-trade zone, the local government has created incentives for Hong Kong-based firms to establish branches on the beachy island.

With boosting consumption an important theme for this yr’s Hainan Expo, luxury and fashion firms akin to Kering, Richemont, and Burberry, and wonder conglomerates akin to L’Oréal, Estée Lauder and Coty, showcased their commitment to Hainan’s duty-free business with their latest product offerings and retail innovations.

The preferred booths belonged to beauty firms, for highly practical reasons. At Estée Lauder, shoppers formed winding lines to receive generous samples from the U.S. beauty conglomerate’s 14 high-end brands, including Aveda, which made its recent duty-free market debut.

Last January, the corporate arrange a travel retail office in Hainan after unveiling duty-free flagships for the Estée Lauder and La Mer brands available in the market.

Coty is showing its commitment to the Hainan market by opening seven stand-alone boutiques for its key brands this yr. The corporate plans to construct out a network of 38 retail stores at the tip of the primary half of 2024.

At Coty’s pod-like booth, the corporate highlighted established brands akin to Gucci Beauty, Tiffany & Co., and Chloé’s fragrance line.

Prestige skincare brand Lancaster’s Linge Princière line and the biotech skincare line Orveda also made their China debuts on the fair.

“Its [Hainan’s] business environment and policies are a transparent differentiator in the worldwide market,” said Caroline Andreotti, Coty’s chief industrial officer for luxury. “Its role as a vital hub connecting China, APAC and the world implies that Hainan presents great opportunities to introduce recent innovations to Chinese consumers and large travel retail business growth.”

Highlighting responsible consumption, L’Oréal China unveiled its Product Impact Labelling System, an initiative to offer consumers with transparent information on a product’s environmental and social impact.

“2023 marks China’s ongoing opening-up, and Hainan plays a vital role within the high-level development. We are going to keep leveraging the strong spill-over effects of CICPE, to raised serve Chinese travelers with more diversified products, and proceed our commitment towards promoting sustainable consumption, to fulfill consumers’ higher demands towards ‘Consumption for Good,’” said Fabrice Megarbane, president of L’Oréal North Asia Zone and chief executive officer of L’Oréal China.

At Shiseido, the Japanese beauty conglomerate offered a taste of its latest travel retail experiences.

Highlights include a stand-alone pop-up shop for Clé de Peau Beauté, an immersive 3D virtual animation pop-up for MAC that showcased its travel retail-exclusive products, and a sublime shelf displaying Serge Lutens’ La fille de Berlin tenth Anniversary Limited Edition fragrance, launching for the primary time within the Mainland China market.

In the luxurious and fashion category, brands focused on promoting a lifestyle-focused approach apt for the tropical destination.

Making its Hainan Expo debut, Hugo Boss constructed a 3,230-square-foot pavilion that highlighted its latest spring and summer collections for Hugo and Boss. Easy suiting from the Hugo brand also made its China market debut during Hainan Expo.

In partnership with the Forestry Department of Hainan Province and Hainan International Business Council, Hugo Boss China can also be committing 1 million renminbi, or $145,000, to Hainan Reform and Development Research Foundation to support the Ecological Restoration Project on the Yingge Ling, Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park for the following three years.

Judith Sun, managing director of Greater China at Hugo Boss, said the corporate is aiming to localize its global sustainability goals to “further root ourselves into the China market.”

Round the corner at Dolce & Gabbana, the Italian luxury brand curated a carnival exploding with colours inspired by the Carretto Siciliano, or the Sicilian cart.

With Italy being this yr’s guest of honor, the style house expanded its offering to incorporate collaborations with Fiasconaro, a Sicilian winery, and Pastificio Di Martino, a Naples pasta maker.

Participating within the fair for the second yr in a row, Dolce & Gabbana is showing its commitment to restoring its brand image five years after its China debacle.

Participating for the third time, Kering’s Chinese jewelry label Qeelin unveiled its Yin Yuan ring collection on the fair.

Inspired by ancient oriental pondering that illustrates moving love, the rings are embedded with a hidden red thread that symbolizes fateful romance.

Burberry unveiled its appointment of Chinese actor Chen Kun as its global ambassador on the fair. Chen made an official appearance on the expo to disclose Burberry’s gabardine-themed exhibition space, pop-up store and café.

As a part of the brand’s commitment to supporting global conservation efforts, Burberry will proceed to fund the protection and restoration of mangroves in Chengmai County in Hainan province.

After Hainan Expo, crowds will migrate north to the neighboring province of Guangdong, for the 133rd edition of the China Import and Export Fair, or Canton Fair, in Guangzhou, which is able to run from Saturday to May 5.

As China’s largest trade fair, Canton Fair will see greater than 35,000 exhibitors from greater than 200 countries, with a give attention to the business-to-business sector.