Foreign brands comprise the largest proportion of those at the consumer goods expo which opened Thursday in Haikou, South China's Hainan province, showing the potential of the Chinese market and the consumption upgrading trend, Workers' Daily reported on Thursday.

Covering 80,000 square meters, the China International Consumer Products Expo will be the largest consumer goods expo in the Asia-Pacific region, the organizers said. The international exhibition area of the expo covers 60,000 square meters and has attracted 648 overseas companies and 1,365 brands from 69 countries and regions.

"The Chinese market serves as the dual engine of development and innovation for Johnson & Johnson's global business," said Farrell Wang, managing director of consumer health at Johnson & Johnson China. "We are looking forward to making full use of our professional advantages as well as various supportive policies from Hainan province to better serve consumers via more innovative and high-quality healthy consumer products," said Wang.

Kentaro Fujiwara, Shiseido China CEO, said the company has fully felt the huge potential of the Chinese cosmetics market as Shiseido previously participated in the China International Import Expo held in Shanghai in 2019 and 2020.

China has maintained order thanks to the government's normalized epidemic prevention and control measures amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, and the stable social environment gives companies confidence in continuing to develop their businesses in China. With the help of open and high-quality government platforms such as the consumer products expo, the company hopes to keep up with the pace of China's economic development and continue to take root in the Chinese market.

Wang Yichuan, general manager of Swiss dietary supplements and functional foods maker Kingnature in China, said Chinese consumers have a deeper understanding of the concept of preventive health amid the global pandemic, and they are paying more attention to the raw materials, craftsmanship, quality and reputation of the products. During the expo, the company will release a variety of rehabilitation programs in professional fields.

As a public service platform, the consumer goods expo can not only stimulate consumption demand, and further improve consumption levels, but also promote mutual learning, exchanges and cooperation between domestic and foreign counterparts to achieve higher-quality development, according to Wang Bingnan, vice-minister of commerce.