Hainan FTZ launches free trade account

The free trade account for China (Hainan) Pilot Free Trade Zone was launched on Tuesday in Hainan province, as part of the efforts to develop a sound business environment in the country's largest free trade zone established in April 2018.

The Hainan Free Trade Account is a convertible accounting system with renminbi as its base currency, using unified accounting rules and taking into account types of different risk management between the renminbi and foreign currencies.

Market entities can conduct investment, financing, exchange and other cross-border transactions applicable to the Hainan Pilot Free Trade Zone (Port), which is the country's 12th FTZ.

The first group of commercial banks to launch the FT accounts are the Hainan Branch of the Bank of China and the Haikou Branch of the Pudong Development Bank. Other commercial banks are preparing for personnel training, system testing and system construction. They will launch FT accounts in the first half of the year, according to the provincial authorities.

The construction of Hainan's free trade account system is one of the 12 leading projects designed for the Hainan free trade zone. Local authorities said financial institutions in Hainan will focus on the central government's strategic positioning for Hainan FTZ, intensify financial innovation, upgrade infrastructure, promote trade investment and financing facilitation, prevent and resolve financial risks and help develop a new pattern for Hainan's comprehensive opening up.

The central government announced in April plans to transform the entire island of Hainan into the country's 12th FTZ, covering 35,400 square kilometers, an area 32 times the size of Hong Kong.