By He Yin
On December 18, the Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP) officially launched island-wide special customs operations, marking another historic moment in China’s reform and opening-up.
At a time when the international landscape is marked by turbulence and transformation, and protectionism is severely disrupting the global economic and trade order, a China that continues to expand high-level opening up is injecting confidence into the world and creating new opportunities, fully demonstrating a sense of vision and responsibility befitting its role in the times.
The Hainan FTP will serve as a key gateway for China’s opening up in the new era. The development of the Hainan FTP is a major reform and opening-up initiative personally planned and advanced by Chinese President Xi Jinping. From both domestic and international perspectives, it is a major strategic decision made by the Communist Party of China’s Central Committee to advance the innovation and development of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
Following the launch of special customs operations, Hainan will implement a liberalized and facilitative policy framework characterized by “freer access at the first line, regulated access at the second line, and free flow within the island,” while steadily creating conditions for the full implementation of a system featuring zero tariffs, low tax rates, and a simplified tax system.
As relevant institutions are further refined and policy dividends continue to be released, the Hainan FTP will transform its openness momentum into drivers of high-quality development, guiding China’s high-level opening up in the new era to a higher stage and injecting fresh impetus into the advancement of economic globalization. The Malaysian National News Agency, or Bernama, noted that as the global trade landscape undergoes profound changes, China’s efforts to build this high-standard economic zone reflect both the confidence of a major global economy and its determination to play a leading role in global economic development.
With a higher level of opening up and higher standards of reform, the Hainan FTP is generating a “Hainan experience” that is replicable and scalable for China’s broader reform and opening up. Since the release of the master plan for the Hainan FTP in June 2020, institutional and mechanism innovation across the fields of Hainan’s opening up has continued to advance, with an initial policy and institutional system centered on trade and investment liberalization and facilitation taking shape.
Hainan has rolled out the country’s first negative list for cross-border trade in services, set up and upgraded the “single window” for international trade and investment, implemented the two 15 percent income tax policies for enterprises and individuals, and expanded visa-free entry to citizens of 86 countries. These reforms in capital flows, personnel exchange, transport connectivity, and orderly data flows show the Hainan FTP’s strong alignment with international rules. They represent an important practice in China’s pursuit of institutional opening up.
To date, Hainan has cultivated 21 batches of 173 integrated institutional innovation cases. Eighty-two of them have received national-level recognition, and 37 have been promoted nationwide.
As development accelerates, the FTP is enhancing regional coordination and creating new cooperation opportunities globally, particularly with neighboring countries. On the one hand, a growing number of Chinese enterprises are leveraging the institutional advantages of the Hainan FTP to “go global,” promoting smoother linkages between domestic and international circulation. Data show that in the first half of 2025 alone, Hainan enterprises added 167 overseas investment filing projects, up 103 percent year on year.
On the other hand, initiatives like Yangpu Port’s international transshipment pilot, optimized tropical agriculture layouts, and cross-border aircraft maintenance cooperation demonstrate how institutional opening drives regional supply chain development. Observers note that the Hainan FTP provides multinational enterprises with a stable, transparent, and predictable business environment, boosting global competitiveness while facilitating market access. This reflects growing worldwide interest in Hainan’s opportunities.
Opening up is the only path to prosperity and development and a defining feature of Chinese modernization. The launch of special customs operations in the Hainan FTP once again sends a clear message to the world: China’s resolve to expand high-level opening up will not waver; its commitment to sharing development opportunities with the rest of the world will not waver; and its determination to advance economic globalization will not waver.
Source: People’s Daily
