SPEAKERS ADDED TO DIVERSE PROGRAMME OF TFWA CHINA’S CENTURY CONFERENCE

Peng Hui, Chairman, China Duty Free Group, will address recent developments in retail facilities in China and beyond, including Haitang Bay, and also the Chinese luxury market and current consumption trends.

Shaun Rein, founder of China Market Research Group and author of The End of Copycat China: the Rise of Creativity, Innovation and Individualism in Asia, will assess China in the context of the global and regional economy.

The stimulating programme for the second TFWA China’s Century Conference, organised in partnership with APTRA from 10th to 12th March 2015 in the Jing An Shangri-La Hotel, Shanghai, is now complete with a very strong line-up of speakers and ample opportunities for networking.

Opening the conference, which follows the highly successful event in 2013, will be welcome addresses by TFWA President Erik Juul-Mortensen, APTRA President Jaya Singh and also by Liu Jin Ping, Chairman of the Shanghai Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment, which is the official supporter of the event.

The first topic is the development of Beijing Daxing International Airport, due to open in 2018 and set to become the world’s biggest. Gao Shiqing, Vice General Manager, Capital Airports Holding Company, will explore its commercial opportunities.
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Peng Hui, Chairman, China Duty Free Group, will address recent developments in retail facilities in China and beyond, including Haitang Bay, and also the Chinese luxury market and current consumption trends.

Shaun Rein, founder of China Market Research Group and author of The End of Copycat China: the Rise of Creativity, Innovation and Individualism in Asia, will assess China in the context of the global and regional economy.

As King Power Group (Hong Kong) consolidates its presence in Chinese travel retail, Managing Director Duty Free & Travel Retail Sunil Tuli discusses current challenges to doing business in the region.

Lessons learned during LS travel retail’s first two years running the new luxury operation in Shenzhen Airport will be summarised by LS General Manager China Eudes Fabre and Shenzhen Airport Vice General Manager Sun Zhengling.

Suppliers will offer their perspectives on the development of luxury retail in China and current challenges, including Andrea Dini, President & CEO of pioneering Italian label Paul & Shark, one of the first European houses to develop widely in China, who will review the past 20 years and offer his vision for luxury brands in China. A panel discussion will feature Furla Global Travel Retail Director Gerry Munday and Edrington Group Asia Travel Retail Managing Director Ryan Hill.

For 30 years China National Service Corp has operated downtown duty free stores catering to returning Chinese travellers. Bringing the first information-packed day to a close, CNCS President Robert Lee will anticipate a step change in quality for this key travel retail sector, including a glamorous new store in Shanghai, as the new government encourages Chinese travellers to shop at home.

Day two will open with a presentation by Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport Co President & CEO Ma Xinhang on the ambitions of mainland China’s third-busiest airport to become a major hub and gateway to southern China.

Gu Jun, Deputy Director of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, will explain how the city’s commercial development plans will impact aviation, transport and tourism. The opportunities for foreign companies and investors will be explored in a separate session by Zhu Min, Deputy Director of Management Committee for China Pilot Free Trade Zone, and Mark Schaub, lawyer and expert on the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, the first of its kind in mainland China.

The Chinese luxury market in the mobile internet era will be the focus for Professor Liu Dehuan, Vice President of the New Media Institute at Beijing University and this theme will be explored further by Olivier Verot, founder of specialist Shanghai agency Gentleman, with particular reference to the role of social networks such as Baidu, WeChat and Weibo.

Luca Bastagli Ferrari, CEO of retail management company Arco Retail, will explain how the Jihua Park project to develop leisure, sports and shopping resorts across China forms a key part of the government’s drive to promote China as a tourist destination and to encourage its citizens to take holidays at home.

Commercial Division Manager Gao Ya Li will reveal plans for the new terminal at Chongqing, one of China’s fastest-growing airports which serves its largest city.

Delegates will also hear key findings from market and consumer research, commissioned by APTRA and conducted by specialist agency m1nd-set, into the behaviour, perceptions and preferences of the Chinese traveller.

The final keynote address will be made by Haiyan Wang, Managing Partner, China India Institute, an expert on China’s rise to prominence and the role of foreign investors, before closing remarks from TFWA President Erik Juul-Mortensen.

Registration for the 2015 TFWA China’s Century Conference, a red-letter event in the business calendar, is open until 20th February at www.tfwa.com; however prompt action is recommended in order to secure visas, flights and accommodation.