KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA — Star Media Group Berhad (SMG), in strategic collaboration with the Hainan International Media Center (HIMC), is proud to announce the premiere of an exclusive, five-part economic and trade video documentary series titled "New Land-Sea Opportunities: Investing in Hainan FTP." Scheduled to debut this Thursday, 18th June 2026, the series will air new episodes on a weekly basis across SMG's extensive digital network. 

Initiated under the strategic framework of the "International Land-Sea Trade Corridor" and the global "Belt and Road" initiative, this flagship co-production profiles the ongoing economic landscape shift inside Hainan following its historic implementation of island-wide special customs operations. The series offers an unprecedented, comprehensive window for ASEAN corporate entities, logistics specialists, and institutional investors to decipher the specific trade incentives, tax regimes, and regulatory frameworks emerging from China's largest and most ambitious economic experiment. 

Datuk Ong Chong Yi, Representative to ASEAN & Senior Research Fellow at the Hainan Institute for Free Trade Port Studies

Redefining Global Economic Integration

Historically famous as a tropical leisure resort destination, Hainan is entering its most critical phase of industrial transformation. Since moving toward a specialised free trade port structure, the region has steadily introduced deep institutional reforms targeted at unilateral trade liberalization, robust capital flexibility, and unmatched rules-based business frameworks. Commenting on the structural scale of this initiative in the series, Datuk Ong Chong Yi, Representative to ASEAN & Senior Research Fellow at the Hainan Institute for Free Trade Port Studies, clarifies that the development represents a departure from traditional trade zone models: "The Hainan Free Trade Port is not a conventional port project like Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ), and it’s also not a special economic zone like the Johor-Singapore SEZ. It is China's flagship initiative for deep institutional reform, aiming at greater unilateral liberalization and a higher level of openness, a higher level of openness through trade and investment facilitation and liberalisation, a low-tax regime, efficient factor mobility, integrated institutional innovation, and a rules-based business environment anchored in the Hainan FTP law. " 

A key catalyst highlighted throughout the production is Hainan's bold tariff arrangement, which exempts up to 74% of customs tariff lines, paired with a specialized "double 15%" policy capping personal and corporate tax rates for selected high-growth industries and elite international talents. Furthermore, raw materials processed within the island that achieve an added value of 30% or more are granted entirely tariff-free access into the broader Chinese domestic market. 

Prof Dr Cheng Ming Yu, Chairperson of the Belt and Road Strategic Research Centre at Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR)

 A New Model of Asia-Pacific Trade Flows

Experts featured in the series highlight that this legal and economic transformation arrives at a defining moment for international trade. Prof Dr Cheng Ming Yu, Chairperson of the Belt and Road Strategic Research Centre at Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR), points out that Hainan reflects a shift in China’s global engagement strategy: "China has 23 free trade zones. For Hainan Free Trade Port, the difference is the scale, because it's an island-wide special customs operation, through which the whole island is involved. The tariff coverage is so big – it's not only opening up, but also a chance for China to test a new development model, how China can better integrate into the world economy. Now China wants to see how they can build, attract people to come because they have confidence in their institutions, confidence in the business environment that they are creating and also confidence in the connection with the local market.” 

Tan Sri Tan Koon Swan, a prominent Malaysian corporate figure, adds that Hainan signals a fundamental shift away from conventional trade patterns: "The emergence of the Hainan Free Port represents more than the development of another economic zone in China, within China. It actually reflects a much larger transformation that is now taking place within the economic architecture of the entire Asia itself. You know, recent discussions promoting closer collaboration between ASEAN and Hainan Free Trade Port coincide strongly with the realities that we are now facing today, that is unfolding before us because of the Middle East conflict. And on top of that, something is changing. The rise of Asia as a major global economic center. The growing importance of the regional supply chain and the increasing integration of ASEAN economies through trade, investment, technology, and logistics." 

Comprehensive Staggered Five-Episode Campaign Outline 

The series is structured into five cohesive editorial segments, each digging deep into specific technical frameworks, operational infrastructure, and sector-specific commercial avenues: 

 ● Episode 1: From Holiday Island to Innovation Hub. An analytical overview tracking Hainan's evolution from a tourist destination into an institutional innovation ecosystem. This episode maps out the initial rollout of free trade port mechanics, infrastructure scaling, and the foundational policies driving cross-border economic movement. 

 ● Episode 2: The Strategic Role of Malaysia in ASEAN-China Trade. An investigation into how Hainan represents a new model of regional cooperation, and how Malaysia can capitalise on the FTP and strengthen its role in the evolving ASEAN-China economic landscape. 

 ● Episode 3: Positioning Malaysia's infrastructure in the Hainan Free Trade Port Era. Explores how Malaysia stands poised to leverage its strategic infrastructure to become an even more vital link in ASEAN-China trade. 

 ● Episode 4: Commercial Opportunities for Malaysian Businesses. Highlights real opportunities available to Malaysian businesses, from innovation and consumer markets. 

 ● Episode 5: Hainan Free Trade Port Opens Doors for Malaysian Agriculture. Profiles how Hainan is creating new growth opportunities for Malaysia's agricultural and aquaculture industries. 

Driving Strategic Regional Growth 

Moving forward, Chinese state officials are heavily focused on securing a diversified, highly resilient economic environment. A relevant official of the Hainan Provincial Government, summarizes the comprehensive focus of the province's layout: "We are fostering seed industries, marine industries, aerospace industries, green industries and digital industries, which are distinctive industrial chains. We are also proactively laying out biomanufacturing, hydrogen energy, brain-computer interfaces and embodied artificial intelligence, which are future-oriented "Four New" industries. We are enhancing duty-free shopping, healthcare, and education — three major areas of consumer-oriented development while building Hainan into both a hub for top talent and an island of technological innovation." 

The five-part series launches officially on Thursday, 18th June 2026. Video segments will be published simultaneously across Star Media Group's key digital channels: 

1. TheStarTV.com 

2. The Star Official Facebook & YouTube Channels 

3. StarBiz Facebook Page 

4. SMG LinkedIn Corporate Network