Hainan to embrace brighter future thanks to favorable policies

Thanks to at least 110 policy documents aimed at spurring its development, south China’s Hainan province has made significant progress in developing itself into a free trade port, embracing a brighter future for the tropical island.

Tourists shop at the Haikou Riyue Plaza duty-free shop in south China's Hainan province. (Photo/Chinanews.com)

Hainan has become a magnet for foreign investment. Foreign investment into the island, in terms of actual utilized funds, has doubled for three consecutive years, with the total amount accrued over the past three years exceeding over half the cumulative amount invested into the Hainan Special Economic Zone since its establishment 30 years ago. Sources of foreign capital have also doubled, with more than 80 countries and regions investing in the province.

Last year, 1,005 foreign enterprises were newly established on the island, almost threefold the figure achieved in 2019.

The foreign investment boom in Hainan can be attributed to China’s preferential policies. Hainan enjoys the shortest foreign investment negative list, with 27 items, compared to 33 at the national level and 30 at the free trade zone level, as the province’s governor Feng Fei outlined at a press conference in Beijing on April 12.

Enterprises registered in Hainan have the lowest tax burden in the country, Feng added, explaining that encouraged industries and enterprises registered in the province enjoy a corporate income tax rate of 15 percent, while high-end talent working in the free trade port only need to pay income taxes of no higher than 15 percent of their income.

China has also been stepping up efforts to build Hainan into a paradise for shoppers. Offshore duty-free sales in the island province are expected to exceed 60 billion yuan in 2021, as fine-tuned favorable policies continue to draw in more customers.

Aerial photo shows Boao Hope City, an international medical and tourism pilot zone in Boao township, Qionghai city, south China’s Hainan province. (Photo/Chinanews.com)

According to Chinese vice finance minister, Zou Jiayi, residents in Hainan will be able to buy imported goods tariff free, and overseas exhibitors will enjoy tax exemption policies for offshore duty-free goods at the China International Consumer Products Expo scheduled to be hosted in Hainan from May 7 to 10 this year.

Hainan is also building itself into an international education center by introducing excellent international education resources, said Shen Xiaoming, Party chief of the province.

A Harrow International School has been put into use in the provincial capital city of Haikou, and some international schools at the Lingshui Li'An international education innovation pilot zone located along the Li'An peninsula of Lingshui Li autonomous county will usher in their first autumn semester this year.

Photo shows the beautiful scenery in Sanya, south China's Hainan province. (Photo/Chinanews.com)

Chinese people can also enjoy greater access to more high-quality medical resources in Hainan thanks to the establishment of Boao Hope City, an international medical and tourism pilot zone situated in Boao township, Qionghai city of the province. The medical institutions in the pilot zone are able to make use of new drugs from all around the world, Shen said.

In addition, an electronic prescription center will be established in Boao Hope City, according to a guideline issued by China’s National Development and Reform Commission.

The country will further encourage well-known beauty and medical institutions to set up operations in the pilot zone and push for an international center for transplantation sciences there, the guideline said.

Hainan has also attached great importance to environmental protection. The island aims to become a global leader in ecological conservation by 2035 and has plans in place to ensure that the installed capacity of power generation using renewable energy resources accounts for 85 percent of the province's total capacity by 2030. It will also ban the sale of gasoline-fueled automobiles by 2030 in a push to promote the adoption of new energy vehicles.

The continuous development of the Hainan free trade port should not inflict damage on the ecological environment, Shen said.