China's Hainan FTP brings about broader opportunities through high-level opening up
At the Yiling Life Care Center in the Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone, patients are seen undergoing rehabilitation exercises under the guidance of therapists in a spacious, bright hall.
In an equipment room, Damien Meunier, from France, is intently calibrating a therapy device, adjusting parameters and components with focused precision.
Meunier first visited China in 2019 as a tourist and was soon drawn to the unique opportunities emerging in Hainan's health care sector amid the rapidly developing Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP). In 2021, he joined Yiling Life Care Center as a medical equipment engineer, based in Boao Township in south China's Hainan Province.
"The Hainan FTP is the ideal place for my career development," said Meunier. "It combines opening-up policies, innovation, and exceptional life quality."
As China's only "medical special zone," the Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone, established in 2013, was granted special policy support that allow eligible pharmaceuticals and medical devices, licensed abroad but not yet available domestically, to be used for patients through streamlined procedures.
An aerial drone photo taken on April 3, 2020 shows a view of the Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone in Boao, south China's Hainan Province.
The pilot zone is the epitome of Hainan's role as a gateway for global openness.
In April 2018, China announced a decision to develop Hainan into a pilot free trade zone while gradually exploring and steadily promoting the establishment of an FTP with Chinese characteristics. In June 2020, a master plan was rolled out to build the island into a globally influential and high-level FTP by the middle of the century.
Seven years on, Hainan has built a policy framework centered on "free and convenient trade, investment, cross-border capital flows, personnel mobility and transportation, and the safe and orderly flow of data," and an FTP system underpinned by features like zero tariffs, low tax rates, and simplified tax systems.
Amid global headwinds against globalization, the Hainan FTP stands as China's testament to unwavering openness.
Official statistics show that by the end of 2024, the province was home to 9,979 foreign-funded enterprises, with 77.3 percent established after June 2020. The number of countries and regions investing in Hainan has jumped from 43 in 2018 to 174 today.
As an important part of the Hainan FTP construction, Hainan has adopted a variety of measures to optimize its business environment to facilitate free and convenient trade and investment.
An inbound aircraft is under maintenance at a one-stop aircraft maintenance base in Hainan Free Trade Port in Haikou, south China's Hainan Province, February 17, 2025.
"In alignment with the world's highest standards of openness, Hainan has formulated and implemented a series of opening-up measures to create a 'foreign investor-friendly' business environment," said Wang Xuehao, deputy head of the Hainan Provincial Department of Business Environment Development. "The measures include expanding the scale of innovative development in trade of goods, promoting two-way investment, and fostering cross-border industrial chain cooperation."
In the Haikou Comprehensive Bonded Zone, Hainan GoldMax Dairy Co., Ltd. has established an industrial park spanning over 50,000 square meters, integrating offshore duty-free retail, e-commerce, general trade and cross-border supplied materials processing, reflecting the company's strong confidence in the potential of the Hainan FTP.
An aerial drone photo taken on October 18, 2024 shows a view of the Haikou Comprehensive Bonded Zone in Chengmai County, south China's Hainan Province.
"The Hainan Free Trade Port has provided us with vast development space and opportunities and helped us bring high-quality products to China and beyond," said Wu Suguo, CEO of the dairy company.
By the end of this year, the free trade port will officially begin independent customs operations, which will be "a form of openness on a larger scale," said Zhao Jinping, a member of the Expert Advisery Committee for the Construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port. "It means the connectivity between the Hainan Free Trade Port and the rest of the world will become even smoother."
Currently, all 31 port infrastructure projects needed for independent customs operations have been completed, laying a solid foundation for efficient flow and supervision of goods and personnel.
An aerial drone photo taken on January 11, 2025 shows a view of the Yangpu International Container Port in the Yangpu Economic Development Zone in Danzhou, south China's Hainan Province.
Meanwhile, as the Hainan FTP begins independent customs operations by the year end, its preferential policies such as "zero tariffs, low tax rates, and simplified tax systems" will be implemented more comprehensively and meticulously. A series of core free trade port policies are also expected to be accelerated for full implementation.
According to Meunier, once the Hainan FTP begins independent customs operations, the advantages will become more evident in areas such as imported equipment, cutting-edge technologies, and international tourism. "I look forward to the future of the Hainan FTP."
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