Businesses begin receiving benefits as Hainan FTP starts customs shift

Companies and institutions began receiving benefits on Thursday as the Hainan Free Trade Port began its island-wide special customs operations.

Siemens Energy became the first foreign-invested enterprise to register, receiving its business license at the Yangpu administrative service center in Danzhou. The company simultaneously broke ground on a new gas turbine assembly base and service center, a project it calls its first of its kind in China. Siemens Energy began its partnership with Yangpu power plant in 1993.

Joern Schmuecker, senior vice-president, Gas Services Central of Siemens Energy, said: "Establishing a gas turbine assembly base and service center in Hainan aligns perfectly with the Free Trade Port's vision of becoming a new high ground for openness and international cooperation. Together with our partners, we will drive collaborative innovation across the industry value chain, continuously enhance equipment delivery and service capabilities, and build an industrial ecosystem that contributes to energy resilience in China and across the world."

"We've seen very fast that we will receive a lot of support," said Lars Voelker, general manager of Siemens Energy (Hainan) Co Ltd, highlighting the efficient logistics and reduced administrative effort enabled by the FTP. He also highlighted the operational benefits. "With the free trade port option, we have the chance to optimize our logistic processes and to reduce administration effort and make everything faster."

Local officials emphasized the upgraded cooperation enabled by the new policies. "The start of construction on the day of island-wide special customs operations marks an upgrade in cooperation from a 'technology provision model' to an 'industry co-construction model'," said Danzhou Mayor Chen Yang. He pledged "full-scale, whole-cycle services" to support the project.

Businesses producing goods on the island also began receiving practical benefits. Jia Green Chocolate Works (Hainan) completed the first shipment to China's mainland to be eligible for a tariff exemption. A batch of chocolate, valued at 300,000 yuan ($42,600), cleared customs at Haikou Meilan International Airport bound for Shaanxi province and Beijing.

Meng Xinli, chairman of the company, said the shipment qualified under rules allowing tariff-free domestic sale for goods with at least 30 percent value-added during processing in Hainan. "These measures have helped lower operating costs and enhance market competitiveness," he added.

In a separate import transaction, the Sanya Phoenix International Airport customs port processed its first batch of duty-free imports under the FTP's zero-tariff policies. The Sanya Branch of Peking University Hospital of Stomatology received a spectrometer and an electron backscatter diffractor from Germany, with tax exemptions of about 128,000 yuan. China National Medical Device (Hainan) also imported two scientific research instruments from Hong Kong, receiving tax reductions of about 182,100 yuan.

The cooperation between multinational corporations, local manufacturers, and institutions underscores the broad initial impact of Hainan's policy milestone. The island-wide special customs operations are designed to facilitate trade, investment, and customs clearance to create a new environment for developing high-end manufacturing clusters and positioning the island as an open economy hub.

Wu Weidi contributed to the story.