More than 1,000 imported goods are on display at the snowy plateau

From August 4 to 8, the 2024 Lhasa Import Commodity Exhibition was held at the Tibet Convention and Exhibition Center. 246 companies and more than 600 merchants from 31 countries and regions participated in the exhibition. The products cover more than 1,000 categories, including handicrafts, daily consumer goods, food and beverages, household goods, cultural and creative products, clothing accessories, electronic products, etc. According to data from the Lhasa Municipal Bureau of Commerce, the first Import Commodity Exhibition received nearly 250,000 citizens and tourists, and achieved sales revenue of 105 million yuan during the exhibition.

In the five theme pavilions of Nepal, Serbia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Mongolia, consumers are constantly coming and going. Yuzhen, who came to visit the exhibition from Nadong District, Shannan City, bought large and small bags of imported goods in a short time.

“My family loves coffee, and I just bought some while there are so many imported coffees at the exhibition.” Yuzhen said while shopping. Although it was very convenient to buy coffee online before, I always felt that shopping fun was missing. I saw so many coffees from all over the world during this exhibition, and I have to enjoy them to my heart’s content.

Jiang Xi, Party Secretary of Lhasa Commerce Bureau, introduced that this is the largest import commodity exhibition in Tibet in more than 10 years, which is of great significance to Lhasa’s efforts to build an open central city facing South Asia and promote the accelerated development of foreign trade.

Lhasa is an important channel for Tibet to participate in the construction of the national “Belt and Road” and the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor, open to South Asia, and connect to the western regional logistics hub. Wang Qiang, Mayor of Lhasa, introduced that in recent years, Lhasa has actively promoted the development of foreign trade and deepened economic and trade exchanges with neighboring countries and regions. In particular, this year, it jointly launched 15 measures to support the improvement of foreign trade quality and efficiency with Lhasa Customs, built and put into use the first cross-border e-commerce overseas warehouse, realized the opening and operation of the “9810” business, organized domestic and foreign exhibitions and promotions, and made every effort to build an ecological circle for the development of the foreign trade industry, and promote the formation of a new pattern of opening up to the outside world in an all-round, multi-level and wide-ranging manner.

At the exhibition site, consumers from Lhasa and surrounding areas were enthusiastic about consumption. Shan Zengbaizhen, who lives in Doilungdeqen District, Lhasa, said: “It feels great to be able to buy foreign products at home and experience the exotic customs and diverse cultures on site.”

In recent years, the annual per capita disposable income of urban and rural residents in Lhasa and even Tibet has maintained a high growth rate, which also provides a reliable guarantee for the continuous improvement of consumption levels. In the first half of this year, the total retail sales of consumer goods in Lhasa reached 19.654 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.3%.

Due to the active consumer market here, many businesses have opened their first stores in Lhasa. This year, the first store of Quanju De La Salle opened, and its turnover rate ranked fifth in the country among the same brands. Lhasa has introduced a series of policy measures to encourage the initial economy and promote consumption. Holding an import commodity exhibition is one of the major measures of the Lhasa Municipal Bureau of Commerce to actively cultivate new foreign trade momentum based on residents’ consumption needs. In addition to setting up 279 international standard booths, the exhibition also set up two special exhibition areas for comprehensive foreign trade services and “Lhasa Good Things”, with a total exhibition area of ​​8,000 square meters.

Wang Zeyan, head of Lianhong Company from Malaysia, said that he did not expect the exhibition to be so popular. “I hope there will be more similar exhibition opportunities in the future, to communicate directly with Lhasa consumers and buyers, and expand product imports and exports.” Wang Zeyan said.

In recent years, Lhasa has deepened and expanded all-round and multi-field exchanges and cooperation with all parts of the world, and has established trade relations with 169 countries and regions. Sun Guangyao, deputy director of the Lhasa Municipal Bureau of Commerce, introduced that in the first half of this year, Lhasa’s import and export trade volume increased by 183% year-on-year, accounting for 68% of Tibet. At present, Lhasa is actively facilitating trade relations with countries around the world, creating an open, integrated and shared platform for displaying, trading and communicating imported goods, promoting trade through exhibitions and promoting exhibitions through trade, building new advantages for Lhasa’s foreign trade development, and making the ancient city of snow a hot spot for investment, business and opening up to the outside world.