electra-supply.comDuring the recent National Day holiday, Sofia and her friends embarked on their first trip from Russia to Sanya, Hainan, where they relished sunbathing on the beach and swimming in the ocean.
Sofia highlighted how China’s unique visa-free entry policy for citizens from 59 countries simplified their travel experience. “The entry process was incredibly smooth, and shopping was very convenient while in Hainan,” she remarked.
Since becoming a province and economic special zone in 1988, Hainan has thrived, spearheading China’s reform and opening-up initiatives. In 2018, Hainan began developing into a free trade port, aiming for “the free and convenient flow of trade, investment, cross-border capital, personnel, transportation, and orderly data security.” This initiative has significantly enhanced the province’s economic vitality.
The Hainan Provincial Department of Commerce reports that from 2018 to 2023, Hainan’s actual foreign investment has surpassed the total foreign investment from its first 30 years as a province. In the first eight months of this year alone, Hainan’s trade in goods reached 184.63 billion yuan, which is a 21.6% increase year-on-year. Additionally, service trade saw rapid growth, with an import and export volume of 37.06 billion yuan—a 29.6% increase compared to last year.
Hainan is also making strides in aligning with international standards, boasting the most convenient visa policies in the country, independent international university programs, the shortest negative list for foreign investment, and the inaugural negative list for cross-border service trade. This positions Hainan as a new highland for China’s high-level openness.
At Hainan’s free trade port, maintenance engineer Sun Shucheng is busy working on an Airbus A330 from VietJet Air. “The schedule is tight; many foreign aircraft are lined up for repairs,” he explained.
An increasing number of international airlines are turning to Hainan for their aircraft maintenance needs. This year, China initiated a pilot program in Hainan aimed at aligning with high international trade and economic standards, which includes a temporary import repair policy that exempts tariffs on goods entering the trial area for repairs.
Engineer Jiang Kun also noted the benefits of Hainan’s free trade port policies, such as waived deposit fees, approval for domestic sales of repair items, and bonded status for maintenance materials. “These policies lead to savings of about 10% to 15% on repair costs,” he added. “Prominent aircraft leasing companies have recognized the business opportunities here and are engaging in aircraft lease returns and transfers in Hainan.”
As China gradually shifts from a goods and factors flow-based open policy to a rule-based approach, it is focusing on aligning with international standards. Yu Tao, director of the Hainan Free Trade Port Research Center at the South China Sea Institute, believes that Hainan is exploring new pathways in rule-making, regulation, management, and standards while setting its sights on the highest global benchmarks.
Since 2019, Hainan has rolled out 17 batches of 146 institutional innovation cases aimed at optimizing intellectual property management, streamlining yacht approval processes, and piloting the import of foreign drugs and medical devices, all in an effort to connect with international trade standards.
In Hainan’s Haikou Rejuvenation City Internet Information Industry Park, a new cross-border data service base is attracting numerous companies. “In the past, managing different clients both locally and internationally required us to maintain data on two sets of domain names, ‘.com’ and ‘.cn.’ Now, we only need one data center (IDC) in Hainan, which has significantly reduced our costs for game exports and data transfers,” said Peng Cheng, founder and chairman of Hainan Xingzhou Zhixing Technology Co., expressing his optimism about the growth prospects in Hainan.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has approved the establishment of an international communications business entry and exit bureau in Haikou, with new regulations for developing international data centers in Hainan on the horizon. Yao Zhiguo, deputy general manager of the Haikou Rejuvenation City Internet Information Industry Park, stated that the province is on the brink of a substantial expansion in cross-border data flows and the international data industry.
Hainan’s free trade port is making notable progress toward institutional opening and operation. Kuan Xianming, vice president of the China (Hainan) Reform and Development Research Institute, believes that Hainan is well-positioned to lead the reconstruction of global trade rules through its policy-oriented opening approach.
