Held in Haikou from the 20th to the 24th of January, the 2022 Hainan Provincial Two Sessions have just finished up. In this report, Lara highlights some of the many achievements of 2021, as well as the plans for 2022, that stood out in this year's Government Work Report.

The Government Work Report consists of two sections: the achievements of the past year & the plans for the following year.

Although the results of 2021 are very impressive and “brag-worthy”, this part of the document actually plays a crucial role in determining the plans for the current year.

Particularly as the provincial government reflects on which policies have reaped the greatest harvest with regards to development (in aspects such as the business environment, economy, and people’s livelihood) as well as many other areas, going over successes and failures provides the opportunity to analyze which newly implemented policies and regulations are most beneficial to the province, and which need to be further streamlined and improved upon.

2021—being both a crucial year in the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port and the first year of the 14th Five Year Plan—has seen great success and remarkable results:

-The province's regional GDP grew by 11.2%, local general public budget revenue grew by 12.9%, fixed asset investment grew by 10.2%, total retail sales of consumer goods grew by 26.5%, the consumer price index rose 0.3%, and the number of new jobs in urban areas increased 23.2%.

-The growth rate of most of these economic indicators is among the best in China, achieving the optimal combination of high growth, low inflation and increased employment.

-The number of new high-tech enterprises increased by 364.

-Special measures were taken to liberalize market access, facilitate trade and improve financial support. The first 15 free trade port legislative measures were promulgated and more than 150 policies have been implemented.

-Key core policies such as the two “15% income tax” policies and three "zero tariff" policies are beginning to show results.

There was also massive progress in social undertakings for improving people's livelihoods:

-72.9% of the province's local general public budget expenditure was spent on public welfare.

-To consolidate and expand the results of poverty eradication and rural revitalization, measures have been implemented to prevent a relapse of poverty concerning certain monitored groups.

-All 13,000 urban workers in difficulty were relieved from poverty.

-The growth rate of wage income of migrant workers increased by 4.9 percent.

-The problem of high and fast-rising vegetable prices, which has been strongly reflected by the public for many years, has been targeted, and we’ve seen a significant drop of 7.57% in the price of 15 basic vegetables, the largest decrease in the country.

-Agricultural sectors have also seen significant increases in their yields.

-The "one city (county) one hospital" project introduced a total of 53 nationally renowned hospitals and made Hainan one of the provinces with the most access to high-quality medical resources.

-The vaccination rate for the whole population reached 95.3%, which ranked first in China.

-After six consecutive years of falling numbers, criminal cases were the lowest they've been in the past 11 years.

Considering the impressive growth, we’ve seen with regards to the economic and social development, it makes complete sense that we are also seeing a drop in criminal cases.

Still the best in China, there were also several noteworthy accomplishments with regards to the quality of Hainan’s ecological environment:

-The proportion of good air quality days reached 99.4%,

-The critically endangered Hainan gibbons welcomed two new babies.

-The Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park was announced as one of China's first five national parks.

-The licensing of new energy vehicles increased by 58,000 units and the proportion of clean energy installations reached 70%, an increase of 3 percentage points.

Along with a lot of construction taking place, we are also seeing careful monitoring of the effects of the overall development taking place on the ecological environment, with great attention paid to environmental protection.

Other than that, we’ve also seen the success of annual, globally influential events held here (such as the Boao Forum for Asia, the World New Energy Vehicle Congress and the first China International Consumer Products Expo).

Where 2021 was seen as a crucial year in the development and construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port, this year is set out to be a year of unrelenting hard work, strengthening the foundations that have already been set in place.

We’ve taken note of the outstanding results of 2021, but how can we expect Hainan to evolve in 2022 and the years to follow?

-The following points form part of the plans laid out in this year’s Government Work Report:

-Health management for patients with severe mental disorders including free basic drugs for outpatient treatment of such patients.

-HPV vaccination for girls of school age, screening and treatment of congenital heart disease in newborns, pilot screening of cognitive impairment in the elderly.

-A launch of a new round of standardization for foreign language signs in public places.

-The cities’ and counties’ old gas pipeline networks will be renovated.

-Management of traffic congestion will be executed.

-The proportion of new energy vehicles in new vehicles will exceed 30%, and the construction of battery recycling projects will proceed.

-The use of marine activities and marine organisms to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and fix it into the ocean.

-The further promotion of the use of clean energy and further advocating of low-carbon cities, parks, communities, campuses, scenic spots, and buildings.

-The ban on single-use plastic that was enacted in 2020 will see further management.

-Continuously see to the solid expansion of the results of poverty eradication and rural revitalization.

-To relieve difficulties faced by market players, the new combined tax and fee reduction policies of the central government will be implemented without compromise.

-The closed-loop mechanism of receiving, verifying and dealing with business environment problems, and promoting the solution of common problems by dealing with individual cases will be implemented.

Considering last year’s economic indicators (such as the growth rate of the regional GDP), it’s quite obvious that the provincial government has great confidence in the new targets it has set for this year’s economic indicators.

Along with this confidence and optimism for Hainan’s future, it’s a wise decision of Hainan’s provincial government to also carefully implement new policies and projects in a step-by-step manner, so as to strengthen risk control, identify and mitigate potential problems and bottlenecks, and solidify the foundation that was laid during the early stages of the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port.