Editor's note: China has seen tremendous changes nationwide, from economic growth to environmental protection, from social improvement to cultural progress. In this series, China Daily maps the changes and tells the stories of the people who lived through them.

Pilot project attracts overseas enterprises, places island at forefront of opening-up efforts

The second China International Consumer Products Expo, which ended on July 30 in Haikou, Hainan province, attracted more than 280,000 visitors and about 2,800 brands from home and abroad.

Like the first expo, the second successfully highlighted China's consumption power on the global stage and laid out fresh opportunities to diversify domestic market channels.

It also further encouraged global luxury groups to continue exploiting opportunities presented by the Hainan Free Trade Port, which is helping develop not only the region, but also the rest of the world, organizers and experts said.

The tropical island of Hainan, China's southernmost province, has been at the forefront of the country's opening-up drive, especially since the launch of the Hainan FTP in June 2020, when China unveiled a master plan to develop the island into a free trade port with Chinese characteristics and global influence by the middle of the century.