The signing ceremony. (Photo/Kuang Yao)

The signing ceremony. (Photo/Liu Shuqin)

The Hunan Xiangjiang New Area Development Group Co., Ltd. (Xiangjiang Group) and the China Duty Free Group Co., Ltd. (CDFG) signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Changsha on April 27 afternoon. They will promote the opening of a duty-free shop in downtown Changsha, which will be the city’s first one. They will also conduct in-depth cooperation in airports, logistics centers, ports and tax-free complexes.

Zheng Jianxin, deputy secretary of the CPC Changsha Municipal Committee, mayor of Changsha, and secretary of the CPC Working Committee of the Hunan Xiangjiang New Area; Peng Hui, chairman of the CDFG; and municipal leaders Zhong Gang, Liu Yongbing, and Zhang Qinghe, attended.

Traditional duty-free shops at airports and ports generally have a small area, while those located at urban commercial centers can have wider range of consumption and more goods categories, which will increase the total consumption sum to a certain extent, and effectively drive local duty-free economy development. The site selection and other related work for the first Changsha  downtown duty-free shop are progressing steadily.

Established in 1984, CDFG is a state-owned enterprise approved by the State Council to operate duty-free business nationwide. It implemented an “offshore + airport + city proper” layout. Over the past three decades, it has occupied more than 80% of the domestic duty-free market share, and become the duty-free goods distributor with the most complete types of duty-free shops in the world, and with the largest number of retail outlets in a single country.

Source: en.changsha.gov.cn