HIMC reporter Emily Sun recently visited FLY3, a zero-tariff goods experience mall by Hainan Free Trade Zone Dehang Co., Ltd (Cosmos) located in the Sanya Phoenix International Airport Complex, where she interviewed Comsos' COO, Huang Dandan. FLY3, designated this year by the China International Consumer Products Expo (CICPE) as Sanya's official "never-ending consumer products expo" site, means "fly to Sanya" ("3" is pronounced "san" in Chinese), and somewhere consumers can buy goods and experience cultures from around the globe.
Favorable FTP policies draw overseas merchants looking for opportunity
Since the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port began, a policy framework for the Hainan Free Trade Port focused on the liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment has begun forming. For trade in goods, a system of liberalization and facilitation featuring "zero tariffs" is being implemented. For trade in services, policy measures for liberalization and facilitation characterized by "letting firms in and letting them do business" is being put in place. Market access continues to be significantly eased, property rights protection strengthened, fair competition ensured, an open, transparent and predictable investment environment created, and market entities further energized.
FLY3 positions itself as China's first curated port tourism commercial complex expressed through a high-level "curated experience-retail commerce" model, setting the scene for scenario-based commerce. This model includes marketplaces, themed "food street" zones, and immersive themed street zones. Among the "cross-border zero-tariff" themed pavilions, national pavilions established by maritime BRI countries aim to provide consumers quality experiences and entice them to spend by deploying bright, airy, and attractive spaces.
According to Comsos COO Huang Dandan, various favorable policies implemented since FTP construction began have empowered the vibrant development of cross-border e-commerce. As a fulcrum city of the BRI, Sanya has seen numerous overseas partner merchants from maritime BRI countries work with Cosmos to create national pavilions. The group is open to such overtures and welcomes overseas partners to bring their products to FLY3, not just as exhibits, but actual goods for sale.
A world of goods that can be bought by anyone
Huang took Emily the Korean pavilion, where she showed her various beauty products from boutique brands not generally found elsewhere in the Chinese mainland.
Compared to the more widely publicized offshore duty-free goods that visitors to Hainan are more familiar with, cross-border zero-tariff goods boast certain advantages. While zero-tariff goods are only exempt from import duties (offshore duty-free goods are also exempt from consumption tax and VAT), they can be purchased by anyone, not just visitors who are leaving Hainan soon. There are also a wider range of goods available, generally geared more toward daily-use items.
Gathering quality global goods and selling quality Chinese goods overseas
Established in 2006, Cosmos is headquartered in Sanya with operations in seven provinces and nine cities across southern, southwest, northwest, and eastern China. Its business covers the commercial operations in transportation hubs and urban complexes, having been involved in the planning, management, and operation of commercial projects at airports, department stores, retail outlets, and malls. It also engages in e-commerce, aviation catering, first class amenities operations, and other airport-related commercial projects.
Talking about why Cosmos chose to develop its cross-border e-commerce business in Hainan, Huang stated that the Sanya-based firm is a homegrown enterprise and cares deeply about Hainan. FLY3 is not just a never-ended expo for consumer goods from maritime BRI countries; it also serves as a showcase and a window for quality characteristic goods from around China, exposing visitors from around the world to China's consumer offerings and enabling them to take such goods home.
Concluding the interview, Huang expressed her expectations for Cosmos' and the Hainan FTP's future development prospects. A biding principle of the company is gathering quality global goods and selling quality Chinese goods overseas in a bid to "buy global, sell global." She hopes that Hainan continues to prosper and internationalize.
