(Briefing on Hainan Free Trade Port for Global South Media)

“On December 18, the Hainan Free Trade Port will officially launch island-wide special customs operations, attracting great attention from the international community. Could you introduce the latest progress in the preparations?” “What particular advantages does the Hainan Free Trade Port have in strengthening economic and trade cooperation with the Global South?”

On the morning of November 24, the Briefing on Hainan Free Trade Port for Global South Media, jointly organized by the China International Press Communication Center, the Information Office of Hainan Province, and the Foreign Affairs Office of Hainan Province, was held in Haikou.

Qian Jin, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Press, Communication and Public Diplomacy of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, kicked off the briefing by introducing the media delegation participating in the five-day Global South Media Tour of Hainan. The reporters, who serve as a crucial channel and platform for the Global South, hail from 33 countries, including Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, India, Laos, Turkey, Thailand, Brazil, Costa Rica, Chile, Uruguay, Jamaica, Egypt, Tunisia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Wang Bin, member of the Standing Committee, Director-General of the Publicity Department, and Spokesperson of the Hainan CPC Provincial Committee, along with leading officials from relevant provincial agencies, including the Office of the Commission for Comprehensive Reform Reform (Office of the Working Committee for the Free Trade Port), the Provincial Development and Reform Commission, the Department of Commerce and Department of Finance, and Haikou Customs, attended the briefing. They highlighted key aspects of Hainan's economic and social development during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, as well as the progress in the high-standard construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port, and responded to reporters' questions.

"In the past five years, the development of the Hainan Free Trade Port has witnessed steady progress and growing momentum. Opening up has continued to expand, our industrial system has become increasingly optimized, our business environment has continued to improve, and our residents have gained a stronger sense of fulfillment," said Wang. He noted that in the past five years, Hainan has closely focused on the strategic positioning of "three pilot zones and one center," achieving remarkable results in high-level opening-up and high-standard FTP development, which can be summarized as “one landmark leap, four significant breakthroughs, and five notable outcomes.”

With the approval of the CPC Central Committee, the Hainan Free Trade Port will officially commence island-wide special customs operations on December 18, 2025, aiming to establish a leading gateway for China's opening-up in the new era. After the island-wide special customs operations begin, the Hainan Free Trade Port will implement even more open policies, enabling freer exchanges with the international community and more efficient connectivity with the Chinese mainland. Without a doubt, Hainan is becoming a new frontier for China's opening-up, a new hotspot for regional mutually beneficial cooperation, and a new engine for promoting economic globalization.

When introducing Hainan's advantages in cooperation with the 'Global South' region, Wang pointed out: "Hainan is not only a 'connecting point' for trade between China and the 'Global South,' but also a 'distribution hub' for the two-way flow of factors." In terms of policy empowerment, he stated that Hainan implements the special customs supervision model of "freer access at the first line, regulated access at the second line, and free flow within the island," with most imported goods, production equipment, and raw materials enjoying zero-tariff treatment, while corporate income tax and high-end talent income tax are as low as 15%. "These policies can reduce operating costs for enterprises from countries and regions in the Global South by nearly 20%," he further explained. Currently, Hainan is developing a "4+5+3+2" modern industrial system, leveraging complementary strengths with the Global South in areas such as tropical agriculture, cross-border tourism, healthcare, and the digital economy.

Speaking about sustainable development, Wang shared Hainan's practical experience: "We have launched the 'Baoting Zero-Carbon County' initiative, established a digital carbon management platform, and developed an island-based climate governance model that has gained international recognition, particularly applicable to island economies in the Global South." He noted that the Hainan Free Trade Port could engage in in-depth cooperation with the Global South in areas like clean energy, ecological protection, and sustainable tourism.

Regarding open cooperation, Wang emphasized development opportunities under the RCEP framework. "Leveraging the benefits of the RCEP framework, our trade with ASEAN countries continues to grow. With the full implementation of the China–ASEAN Free Trade Area Version 3.0 in 2025, higher-level liberalization of goods and services is expected to be achieved, with Hainan at the forefront." Wang specifically mentioned that Hainan's cross-border e-commerce "dual-duty-free" policy system enables specialty goods from countries in the Global South to enter the Chinese market more efficiently and at a lower cost. "Several countries in the Global South have established trade centers in Hainan, supporting the development of 'processing for re-export' cooperation models," Wang summarized.

During the lively Q&A session, reporters posed questions on topics such as the preparations for island-wide special customs operations, customs supervision measures, progress in tax regime development, and regional economic and trade cooperation with "Global Hainan."

Major progress in island-wide special customs operations has attracted widespread attention

Wang Fengli, Deputy Director-General of the CPC Hainan Provincial Committee's Office of the Commission for Comprehensive Reform (Office of the Working Committee for the Free Trade Port), explained that preparations for island-wide special customs operations are progressing smoothly overall, and that the basic conditions for their implementation are in place. The relevant policy and institutional framework has been largely established, with key policies such as the list of taxable import goods and tax policies for goods circulation, along with other supporting documents, already issued. Relevant hardware facilities have been fully completed, with eight "first-line" ports, ten "second-line" ports, and related facilities having passed final review and handover. All 64 comprehensive anti-smuggling law enforcement stations are operational, and relevant IT systems have undergone joint debugging and testing and remain in hot standby status. Stress testing continues to deepen, with multiple rounds of tests conducted around scenarios such as goods movement and tax collection. A comprehensive, round-the-clock trial of island-wide special customs operations was launched 30 days prior to their official launch to comprehensively evaluate policy implementation, risk prevention, and rapid response and joint operational capabilities, ensuring smooth and orderly operations.

In response to a question from the Public Broadcasting Corporation of Jamaica about Hainan's positioning in the global industrial chain and opportunities for international investors, Huang Peng, Deputy Director-General of the Hainan Provincial Development and Reform Commission, stated that Hainan will focus on implementing four major initiatives to deeply integrate the Hainan Free Trade Port's real economy into the global industrial chain.

The "Industry Construction" initiative will focus on developing industries that empower other sectors, such as the digital economy, finance, and logistics. It will involve actively developing international data services, building a cross-border financial ecosystem, and vigorously developing airport and port-related industries.

The "Industry Revitalization" initiative will focus on strategic industries such as petrochemical new materials, biopharmaceuticals, green and low-carbon industry, and high-end food manufacturing. It will involve promoting the development of marine hydrocarbon resources, building a biopharmaceutical hub, developing the Clean Energy Island 2.0 initiative, creating a 100-billion-yuan high-end food processing industrial cluster, and establishing an international bonded maintenance and remanufacturing center.

For the "Industry Transformation" initiative, Hainan will focus on future-oriented industries, including the commercial aerospace industry, seed breeding in the Nanfan Agricultural Silicon Valley, deep-sea technology, and biomanufacturing. It aims to cultivate and strengthen rocket, satellite, and data chains, as well as the 'space+' industries, establish the "Nanfan Agricultural Silicon Valley," and build a modern marine industry system and a biomanufacturing industry system with tropical and marine characteristics.

The "Industry Attraction" initiative will focus on characteristic industries such as tourism and new forms of trade. It will involve enhancing the internationalization and standardization of tourism services, building a world-class tourist destination, and creating a new growth pole for international trade. Huang Peng emphasized that in these key areas, Hainan will adhere to "an open-door policy and provide equal treatment for all," inviting global investors to share in the development dividends of the Hainan Free Trade Port.

Developments in the tax regime of the Hainan Free Trade Port have also garnered attention from foreign media

Zhou Zheng, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Finance of Hainan Province, stated that 18 free trade port tax policies have been implemented, including three "zero-tariff" lists, the import tariff exemption policy for products with no less than 30% added value after processing, the "dual 15% cap" on corporate and individual income income tax, 14 early-harvest policies such as island-departure duty-free shopping, and four incremental policies including the "zero-tariff" import of medical apparatus and instruments into the Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone.

Once the Hainan Free Trade Port officially launches island-wide special customs operations, the original "zero-tariff" policies will transition to a negative list management system, which will see the implementation of the list of taxable import goods and tax policies for goods circulation. At that time, the current tax policies will be consolidated into 17 policies under the "13+4" framework, including 10 "zero-tariff" policies. These include a new policy that increases the proportion of goods subject to "zero-tariff" treatment from 21% to 74%, along with two VAT refund policies, stamp duty exemptions for offshore trade, and four income tax policies.

"In terms of their implementation, these policies are stable, unique, systematic, and gradual. It can be said that the initial phase of Hainan Free Trade Port's tax regime has already been established," said Zhou.

Responding to a question from Brazil's Poder360, Li Zhiping, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Commerce of Hainan Province, stated that the Hainan Free Trade Port has three particular advantages in strengthening economic and trade cooperation with the Global South.

First, trade with Hainan will become freer and convenient. In 2024, the total import and export volume of Hainan's goods trade increased by 20% year-on-year; service imports and exports grew by 23.9%, and digital trade rose by 44.5%. Once island-wide special customs operations are launched, the proportion of goods enjoying "zero-tariff" treatment will increase from 21% to 74%, further reducing the cost of exporting advantageous goods from countries and regions in the Global South to Hainan.

Second, Hainan's multiple preferential policies overlap. Hainan leverages its geographical advantage of connecting the Pacific and Indian Oceans to implement the highest level of open policies. The import tariff exemption policy for products with no less than 30% added value after processing allows goods processed in Hainan with over 30% value-added to be sold tariff-free to the Chinese mainland, effectively enhancing the competitiveness of Global South products in the mainland Chinese market.

Third, the Hainan Free Trade Port is also establishing a headquarters base for Chinese enterprises to access the international market. Driven by policies such as tax exemptions on income from new overseas investments and the EF account system, Hainan's outbound investment has experienced rapid growth. From January to October this year, Hainan added 296 newly registered outward investment enterprises and paid-up outward investment reached USD 3.17 billion, representing a year-on-year growth of 43% and 42.6%, respectively.

From 2020 to October 2025, Hainan's investment in Southeast Asia reached USD 5.4 billion, accounting for 41.7% of the province's total outbound investment. Following the launch of special customs operations, it is expected that future economic and trade cooperation with countries and regions in the Global South will grow even closer.

This was the question posed by a reporter from Turkey's Aydınlık newspaper. Tian Tao, Deputy Commissioner of Haikou Customs, explained that in terms of institutional opening, the three "zero-tariff" lists have continued to be enhanced, with cumulative imports worth 27.2 billion yuan by October 2025, resulting in tax reductions of 5.15 billion yuan. The import tariff exemption policy for products with no less than 30% added value after processing has been extended to cover the entire Hainan Island, with 129 pilot enterprises achieving cumulative domestic sales of 11.1 billion yuan and tariff reductions of 860 million yuan. Policies such as temporary entry and exit for repairs and bonded maintenance have also achieved economies of scale, with the value of goods benefiting reaching 2.7 billion yuan and over 2 billion yuan, respectively.

Following the launch of island-wide special customs operations, the scope of Hainan's "zero-tariff" policies will be further expanded, the import tariff exemption policy for products with no less than 30% added value after processing will continue to be optimized, and exception measures will be simplified, helping to build a high-level, open system. In terms of trade facilitation, Haikou Customs has introduced over 100 facilitation measures and cultivated 120 AEO enterprises, proportionally higher than the national average. Since 2018, Hainan's foreign trade has experienced seven consecutive years of positive growth, with an average annual growth rate of 21.7%, and its economic openness has continued to improve.

Following the briefing, the Global South media delegation embarked on their five-day tour of Haikou, Danzhou, Qionghai, Wanning, Lingshui, and Sanya, where they will conduct on-site research and interviews. At each location, they will closely observe the progress of high-standard construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port and convey to the international community China's firm determination and vibrant vitality in opening up in the new era.

Combining face-to-face exchanges and field visits, the media tour will focus on three main objectives: first, to provide an in-depth interpretation of the policy framework, preparation progress, and new opportunities for global trade and investment brought by island-wide special customs operations; second, to build an information bridge and practical cooperation platform between Hainan and the Global South by gathering international resources and drawing attention; third, to showcase a more open and dynamic Hainan to the world through the diverse perspectives and communication channels, thereby injecting new international influence and collaborative momentum into the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port.