Shanghai is to become a debut stage for new fashion and cosmetic products worldwide as another Shanghai global promotion season begins.

The launch ceremony of the 2024 "FIRST in Shanghai" global promotion was held in Zhang Yuan on April 11, with the witness of representatives from Jing'an Real Estate, Hermès, Anta Sports, L'Oreal, and other renowned companies.

As part of the Shanghai Double Five Shopping Festival, "FIRST in Shanghai" promotes Shanghai as the world's fashion capital, demonstrating to the world its potential and ability as a city capable of hosting important international fashion events.

Zhu Min, director of the Shanghai Commission of Commerce, released "Several Measures on Further Promoting the High-Quality Development of the Premiere Economy," announcing seven initiatives to promote high-quality development of the premiere economy.

According to the initiatives, the "FIRST in Shanghai" series of activities, scheduled from March to May each year, should focus on organizing a bunch of new products promoting activities.

It will support leading domestic and foreign brands to open their first stores in Shanghai, with a bonus of 1 million yuan (US$137,875) for the first stores in Asia.

Shanghai will also optimize the management of premiere events, provide customs clearance measures for imported premiere products, and support the bonded display and international trading industry, according to Zhu.

"We'd like to invite more entrepreneurs to set up more first stores, flagship stores, and experience stores in Shanghai, release more new trendy products, and jointly build a premiere economy highland with global influence," said Zhu.

From May 2018 to December 2023, more than 4,500 international and domestic brands have held debut events in Shanghai, introducing 5,840 first stores (a daily average of 2.8), with more than 80 first stores above the Asian level, ranking first in the country in terms of quantity and quality, according to official statistics.

Cao Weiming, president of Hermès China, believes the business environment in Shanghai has been improving greatly in recent years.

"Shanghai has reached a level comparable to metropolises like Tokyo and Paris in terms of its scale and service standards, I'm full of confidence in the future development of Shanghai," he said.

Annual sales of the three Hermès stores in Shanghai are currently among the top 10 worldwide, an achievement which could not be surpassed by other markets, according to Cao.

Anta executive Xu Yang also set the debut of the first Anta Zero Carbon Mission store in Shanghai, where he hopes to spread the zero-carbon concept and better serve the low-carbon economy in China.

In the first quarter of this year, L'Oreal, Gucci, Apple, Loewe, Starbucks, and other international brands made their debuts, exhibitions, and stores in Shanghai, with 450 new first stores of various types being set up, a year-on-year increase of 55 percent, with the scale and quality hitting a record high.

Currently, Shanghai ranks second among global cities in terms of global retailer concentration, with 98 percent coverage of first-tier international brands.