Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
WUHAN, May 31 (Xinhua) — The first duty-free shop in central China’s Hubei Province and the entire central China began trial operation in Wuhan on Friday, the Hubei Provincial Bureau of Commerce said.
In August last year, five government departments, including the Ministry of Finance, jointly issued a statement that duty-free shops would be opened in the city limits of Wuhan, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Xi’an, Changsha and Fuzhou.
Previously, 6 similar stores have already opened in Beijing, Shanghai, Qingdao, Dalian, Xiamen and Sanya.
According to local authorities, the Wuhan outlet was a natural result of the announcement of new policy measures.
Located in a luxury mall in the heart of Wuhan, it saw more than 32 million customer visits last year and generated annual sales of 10 billion yuan (about $1.39 billion).
The investor and operator of the duty-free shop is Wuhan Wangfujing Wushang Duty-free Goods Management Co., Ltd., a joint venture that has direct purchasing agreements with more than 100 international brands. These partnerships cover a variety of product categories, including perfumes and cosmetics, wines and food, digital electronics, luxury accessories, popular domestic cultural products, and coffee and tea.
It is especially worth mentioning that this duty-free store, as part of the strategy of promoting fashion for domestic brands on the world market, also presents cultural creations from the imperial palace, the so-called “Wuhan gifts”, which are objects of intangible cultural heritage.
“The opening of the duty-free shop in downtown Wuhan marks a new stage in the development of cities on the Chinese mainland,” said an official from the provincial department of commerce, adding that once the project is launched, it is expected to be able to serve the consumption demand of over 2 million foreign travelers visiting Hubei on average per year. -0-