Open gateway for commerce across oceans

"Hong Kong's highly developed financial market will provide sufficient funding for Hainan's high-tech industries as well as talent for Hainan's tourism, consumption and modern services sectors. And Hainan will offer Hong Kong high-quality investment projects, financial assets and vast space of development."

Both Lin and Cheng spoke after President Xi Jinping underlined the importance of prioritizing integrated institutional reform and promoting the free and convenient flow of production factors in developing a high-quality and high-standard free trade port in Hainan province.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, said in an instruction published on June 1 that building a free trade port in Hainan is a major strategic decision adopted by the CPC Central Committee.

He said the innovation of institutional integration would be prioritized to free people's minds to make bold innovations and ensure enduring progress.

Experts and entrepreneurs said the new move demonstrated the government's strong determination to open up wider to the outside world and further integrate itself into the world economy.

They believe the preferential policies, such as tailored taxation mechanism and negative list offered to Hainan free trade port will facilitate the free flow of production factors, which will help lure global investors and vitalize the economy.

"Owing to Hainan's unique geographical location, Hainan is set to be built into a key open gateway to the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean trading routes, which will help fuel the growth of the entire nation," said Cui Weijie, director of the Institute of Industry Development and Strategy under the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.

Cui highlighted the cooperation with neighboring regions as well as the mainland market, saying the construction of the free trade port in Hainan will create new growth drivers amid a sluggish world economy.

Zhang Yansheng, chief research fellow with the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, said as free trade ports are regarded as the world's most open form of economic zones, the construction of Hainan free trade port will not only boost regional development, but help fuel the growth of the whole nation and even the countries and regions participating in the Belt and Road Initiative.

"The construction of the Hainan free trade port will give full play to China's ultra-large-scale market advantage and the domestic demand potential, creating a new pattern of opening-up and development," Zhang said.

"It demonstrates China's firm commitment to continuously promoting the facilitation of free trade and investment in the globe, which will help build an open global economy."

According to him, to build a high-quality and high-standard free trade port, Hainan needs to strengthen cooperation with key areas such as the land-sea corridor in western China as well as neighboring Asian countries, which will boost connectivity and create new growth poles.

"It should also work with countries and regions in the Indo-Pacific region to boost the high-quality development of the countries and regions participating in the Belt and Road Initiative," Zhang said.

Hainan has always been regarded as a highland for reforms and opening-up during the past decades. And the latest overall plan for Hainan free trade port has shown the government's bolder drive than the previous free trade zone in 2018, indicating the nation's serious resolve to further deepen reforms and opening-up.

Liu Cigui, Party chief of the island province, said Hainan has made considerable progress during the past few years, laying a solid foundation for the building of Hainan free trade port.

"Abiding by the new concepts of high-quality development, we have developed a pilot zone for comprehensively deepening reform and opening-up, a national pilot zone for ecological civilization, an international tourism consumption center and a supporting zone for major national strategies," Liu said.