Editor Notes：

Hainan, with its tropical climate and welcoming locals, has long extended its open arms to the world. In recent years, the breakneck development of the Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP) has seen waves of professionals from around the world traverse the distance to add their own stories to the multitude that together make up Hainan’s shining new chapter on Chinese modernization.

In the series Hainan FTP: My Hainan Story, Hainan International Media Center turns the lens on international faces who have chosen Hainan. We explore what brought them to Hainan and share their accomplishments and opinions in their respective fields, as well as their deepening affection for their new island home. With their unique perspectives, we present a vision of the Hainan FTP that is both authentic and vivid—a land of innovation and opportunity, with an open, accepting, and international community and a genuine desire for mutually beneficial cooperation. They are contributors to Hainan’s development and bridges linking Hainan and the world.

Listen to their stories, experience Hainan’s unique charm, and witness the astonishing changes unfolding in China’s southernmost province and the world’s largest free trade port.

Egyptian soil scientist Dr. Ahmed Salah Abdelkarim Ibrahim was Hainan’s first foreign expert to receive funding from China’s NSFC Young Scientists Fund (Overseas). For the past three years, he has worked as a researcher at Hainan University, where he has found ample “sunshine” and “water” among the school’s lively academic atmosphere. Hainan, with its complex tropical soil, has also provided him with a wealth of research opportunities.

During his time in Hainan, Abdel has poured his energy into researching nitrogen transformation in soil-plant systems, carbon-nitrogen footprints, and the potential and mechanics of soil carbon sequestration, with his work published in internationally renowned journals such as Nature Food, as well as numerous domestic journals. His research has provided theoretical, technological, and statistical support for sustainable agricultural development in both the tropics and further afield. In September 2025, he was honored by the provincial government, receiving the Hainan Friendship Award for his exceptional contributions to the high-quality development of agriculture in Hainan.

In his speech at the award ceremony, Ahmed expressed his intention to continue promoting exchanges and cooperation between Hainan and other countries and regions, facilitating academic contact between foreign scholars and Hainan, inviting more Egyptian experts and students to grow with Hainan, and helping establish Hainan as a hub for international tropical agricultural cooperation.