Hainan sees foreign trade surge in past 5 yrs: official

BEIJING, April 13 (Xinhua) -- China's southern island province of Hainan has witnessed rapid foreign trade growth over the past five years, making solid strides to develop itself into a high-level free trade port (FTP).

Hainan's combined imports and exports of goods logged a 23.4-percent average annual increase in the past five years, surpassing 200 billion yuan (nearly 30 billion U.S. dollars) for the first time in 2022, Lyu Daliang, spokesperson of the General Administration of Customs, told a press conference Thursday.

In the first quarter this year, Hainan's foreign trade hit a new high of 57.74 billion yuan, up 32.5 percent year on year, Lyu said.

Hainan's steady trade growth came after the country decided to develop the whole island into a pilot free trade zone five years ago, gradually exploring and steadily promoting the establishment of an FTP with Chinese characteristics.

With the construction of the FTP, Hainan's foreign trade has entered the fast lane over the past five years, Lyu said.

In this period, the number of companies engaged in foreign trade in Hainan surged from fewer than 600 to over 1,500, with private enterprises being the main force in Hainan's foreign trade growth. Hainan now trades with nearly 180 countries and regions, up from fewer than 160 five years ago. It has maintained robust trade growth with major partners including the European Union, Japan, and Brazil.

As the Hainan FTP is scheduled to initiate independent customs operations throughout the whole island by the end of 2025, Liu said the customs will accelerate stress tests, build intelligent regulatory platforms, and explore new regulatory models.