The organisers of the Shanghai TFWA China’s Century Conference (10-12 March) have finalised what looks like a strong speaker line up for the two-day event.

 

The second in the China’s Century Conference series, this year’s event is being held at Shanghai’s Jing An Shangri-La Hotel and the organisers are also promising plenty of opportunities for business networking.

 

The conference will be opened with welcome addresses by TFWA President Erik Juul-Mortensen, APTRA President Jaya Singh and Liu Jin Ping, Chairman of the Shanghai Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment – the official supporter of the event.

 

It will begin with a look at the development of Beijing Daxing International Airport, which is set to open its doors in 2018 as the world’s biggest. Gao Shiqing, Vice General Manager, Capital Airports Holding Company is scheduled to take the conference audience through its commercial opportunities.

 

Peng Hui, Chairman of the China Duty Free Group – the biggest and most diverse duty free operator in China – will then address the audience on recent retail developments in China and beyond, including the huge Haitang Bay downtown project in Hainan, while also touching on the Chinese luxury market and current consumption trends.

 

He will then be followed by Shaun Rein, founder of the China Market Research Group and author of ‘The End of Copycat China: the Rise of Creativity, Innovation and Individualism in Asia’. His address will concentrate on assessing China in the context of the global and regional economy.

 

CHALLENGES AND LESSONS LEARNED

Sunil Tuli, King Power Group (Hong Kong) Managing Director Duty Free & Travel Retail will then give his take on the company’s consolidation of its presence in Chinese travel retail alongside the perceived current challenges to doing business in the region.

 

The next presentation will concentrate on the lessons learned by Lagardère Services’ owned LS travel retail during its first two years of operations with the new luxury operation in Shenzhen Airport. This will be jointly presented by LS General Manager China Eudes Fabre and Shenzhen Airport Vice General Manager Sun Zhengling.

 

There will also be plenty of opportunity for suppliers and brandowners to get involved by offering their perspectives on the development of luxury retail in China and the current challenges they face.

 

For example, Andrea Dini, President & CEO of the Italian label Paul & Shark – one of the first European houses to develop widely in China – will review the past two decades and offer his vision for luxury brands in China. A panel discussion will then feature Furla Global Travel Retail Director Gerry Munday and Edrington Group Asia Travel Retail Managing Director Ryan Hill.

 

Yet another interesting dimension – and an eye opener for many – will follow with an address by China National Service Corp President Robert Lee. This company has actually operated downtown shops in China for returning overseas Chinese citizens for no less than 30 years.

 

In this address, Lee will discuss why he believes that a step change in quality is taking place for this key travel retail sector, beginning with CNSC’s impressive new store opening in Shanghai, as the relatively new Chinese government encourages more Chinese travellers to shop at home.

 

OPPORTUNITIES FOR FOREIGN COMPANIES

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

 

He will then be followed by Gu Jun, Deputy Director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce who will explain how the city’s commercial development plans will impact upon 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.

 

Professor Liu Dehuan, Vice President of the New Media Institute at Beijing University will then look at the Chinese luxury market in the mobile internet era and this theme will also be explored 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 then follow with his address on 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 also reveal plans for the new terminal at Chongqing, one of China’s fastest-growing airports which serves its largest city.

 

 

 

 

SPECIALLY COMMISSIONED RESEARCH

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 is open until 20 February at www.tfwa.com. The organisers are recommending that any individuals who have still to register should move quickly to secure their entry visas, as well as flights and accommodation.

 

This event follows which follows the very successful event held in Beijing in 2013 – described as one of the industry’s all-time best conferences by many attendees, participants and TRBusiness.com.

 

[TRBusiness is very pleased and proud to be producing the official China’s Century Conference Delegate Magazine and the official Work Book for this event. The Delegates Magazine will be exclusively available in China and only at this event and contains exclusive in-depth interviews with many of the aforementioned speakers. It is also the result of extensive in-depth editorially-led interviews held in Asia with top executives within the last month and a half at companies in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Macau and beyond-Ed].