Staff members check a themed plane to prepare for the China International Consumer Products Expo at Meilan International Airport in Haikou, south China's Hainan Province, March 7, 2023.(Photo: Xinhua)

China will see another large-scale consumption exhibition in Hainan Island, the "Hawaii of China," next week, a unique platform for global consumer products companies to access the Chinese market, showing Beijing's pledge of a higher level opening-up. 

The China International Consumer Products Expo (CICPE) 2023 will be held in Haikou, South China's Hainan Province from April 10 to 15, officials from China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said on Monday. 

As the first large-scale international expo after China optimized its COVID-19 response in light of the evolving situation, the CICPE 2023 has attracted nearly 30 CEOs from the world's top 500 enterprises to attend the on-site meeting, the MOFCOM said. 

The exhibition area will be increased by 20 percent over the previous meeting to reach 120,000 square meters, and about 3,100 brands from 65 countries and regions worldwide will be displayed at the show.

Italy, the guest of honor of the expo, is expected to present at least 147 consumer product brands with an area of 1,800 square meters of exhibition space, the MOFCOM said. 

The expo will further boost consumer confidence and help fully demonstrate the achievements of the Hainan Free Trade Port, Sheng Qiuping, vice Minister of Commerce, said at the press conference.

It will help promote high-level opening-up, share the opportunity of China's large market with the world and provide impetus for global economic recovery, Sheng added. 

China has spared no efforts to present the country's commitment to opening-up in recent weeks with different events, including the China Development Forum, sending a strong signal to participants that the nation will continue to create new opportunities for a world that has been derailed by regional conflicts and disturbances.

China also kicked off a yearlong campaign last week, themed "Invest in China," to further attract foreign investment and help foreign companies better understand China's opportunities.

"I am pleased to see that even more positive policies are continuously being implemented in Hainan, and we all see the advantages afforded by Hainan's unique geographic location and its political advantages," Saravoot Yoovidhya, the CEO of Thailand-based TCP Group, told the Global Times on Monday. 

TCP Group has attended the expo for three consecutive years, and Yoovidhya said that it will continue to seize new opportunities in Hainan by enjoying the benefits afforded by the Hainan Free Trade Port and the RCEP, and bring more products to the Chinese market.

In 2022, China's imports of consumer products reached 1.93 trillion yuan ($280.21 billion), more than double that of 2012, accounting for 11 percent of total imports. In addition, cross-border e-commerce imports reached 560 billion yuan in 2022, an increase of 4.9 percent over the previous year, according to Sheng. 

The Hainan expo is highly expected by the market. "At present, China's residential consumption is an engine in its economic recovery and also a necessary factor to reach the annual GDP growth target of about five percent," Zhang Yi, CEO of the iiMedia Research Institute, told the Global Times on Monday.

China has released a master plan to build the island province of Hainan into a globally influential and high-level free trade port by the middle of the century. 

Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Wednesday called for building a high-quality and high-standard Hainan Free Trade Port and improving elder care and medical services, according to the Xinhua News Agency. 

At the construction site of a passenger transport hub in Haikou, the capital of Hainan, Li stressed efforts to push forward institutional innovation and opening-up, and to accelerate building Hainan into an internationally influential free trade port with Chinese characteristics.

Ni Qiang, vice governor of Hainan Province, said at the conference that Hainan is also building the province into an aviation hub facing the Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean, generating more international opportunities for enterprises.