The 2022 Liquor Industry Innovation and Investment Conference will be held in Haikou, capital city of South China's Hainan province, from Dec 20 to 23, in a move to help develop the Hainan Free Trade Port into a transit hub for the import and export of liquor products, according to local officials.

The four-day event, to be held at the Hainan International Convention and Exhibition Center,  will provide a slew of activities, including the release and exhibition of new liquor products, venture capital and trade talks, innovation contests and high-end forums focusing on hot issues such as liquor and investment, scientific and technological innovation, creative marketing, and efforts targeting carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals, the organizers said.

The conference, to be jointly hosted by the China National Association for Liquor and Spirits Circulation, the Hainan Provincial Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the HIMICE Media Group, is expected to bring together 2,500 professionals. For liquor amateurs and casual visitors, it will also be a good opportunity to keep abreast of the latest developments of the liquor industry at home and abroad.

The preferential policies of the Hainan Free Trade Port have made it possible for Hainan to build a transit hub for the import and export of liquor. A number of world leading liquor brands, including Diageo, Pernod Ricard and LVMH have settled in the Haikou Comprehensive Bonded Zone and have set up distribution centers. Chinese liquor enterprises have also launched projects to make Hainan a gateway for liquor exports, said Chen Hongliang, vice president of the Hainan International Trade Promotion Council.

In the first half of 2022, a total of 134 liquor-making enterprises settled in industrial parks in Hainan, the number jumped to 565 by late November. Among them, 49 reported a registered capital of more than 10 million yuan, according to data from the local authority.