Editor's note: Decision Makers is a global platform for decision makers to share their insights on events shaping today's world. Shen Xiaoming is the Secretary of the CPC Hainan Provincial Committee. The article reflects Shen Xiaoming's opinions, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.
On April 13, 2018, General Secretary Xi Jinping attended the meeting of the 30th anniversary of the founding of Hainan Province and the Special Economic Zone. He made an important speech, during which he gave a clear statement on Hainan's positioning for the first time, that is: the pilot zone for deepening reform and opening up, the pilot zone for national ecological renewal, the center for international tourism and consumption, and a pilot zone serving our major national development strategies.
The positioning of the three pilot zones and one center is now guiding Hainan's development. All work in Hainan, including the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port, is carried out in accordance with this positioning.
The Atlantis resort in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, April 4, 2020. /Xinhua
The China International Consumer Products Expo will kick off on May 7th. It's a major event for Hainan to become an international tourism and consumption center, and it has been included in this year's central government work report.
At present, there are well-known companies from 69 countries and regions in the world, bringing 1,665 brands to the event. It's expected to be the largest consumer products Expo in the Asia-Pacific region. Many companies are going to launch new products at the Expo.
In the past year or so, we have established a very effective and efficient system in the fight against COVID-19. With the system in place, we are prepared and ready for implementing the effective prevention and control measures during the Expo.
Screenshot from the official website of China International Consumer Products Expo. /CICPE
The epidemic has brought great difficulties and challenges to the world but it has also been a mixed blessing. While it closed a door for Hainan, it also opened a window for us. In fact, it is not just one window which was opened but three.
The first window is the opportunity for boosting consumption. With an international travel ban, people can no longer travel abroad and buy luxury goods. We then adjusted the tax exemption policy for outlying islands in time, and introduced the new tax exemption policy which has greatly promoted the return of overseas shopping consumption.
In 2019, our duty-free sales reached 15 billion yuan. Last year, sales on our outlying islands doubled to 30 billion. Our plan this year will be to double the 30 billion we had in 2020, to reach 60 billion.
Consumers shop at a duty-free shop at Sun Moon Plaza in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province, December 27, 2020. /Xinhua
The second window is the opportunity to boost international medical tourism. With international travel suspended, people can no longer go abroad for medical treatment. There are even some patients who are in the middle of their treatment and can't proceed with the second phase of their treatment due to the epidemic.
Our Boao Lecheng Medical Tourism Pilot Zone can fill this gap, because in this zone, we can use the medicines that patients originally intended to take abroad. They can now legally use these medicines in our zone.
The third window is the opportunity to boost international education services consumption. With the international travel restrictions, those who were going to study abroad can't proceed with their plans.
Parents are thinking, what if there is another epidemic like this in the future? Can we enjoy international high-quality education at home in China? And those famous foreign institutions that rely on Chinese students are also thinking, what should they do if they encounter similar problem in the future? Can we open schools to China?
The Hainan International Education Island meets the demand with provision of high-end education services. Last year, Harrow School in the UK already enrolled students in Haikou. And this year, seven new schools jointly run by China and foreign countries will start enrolling students on our Lingshui Li'an International Education Innovation Pilot Zone. With the policies of Hainan Free Trade Port in place, we are prepared for the opportunities.
The world is experiencing great changes unseen in a century, and this will bring more opportunities and challenges to the Hainan Free Trade Port. We should enhance our risk awareness and bottom-line thinking, seize the opportunity and speed up building our Free Trade Port. But as we move forward with building the Free Trade Port, we must pay attention to the pace.
Faster is not always better, and slower is not always better either. So, what we must do is to step on the gas when it's time to accelerate, and hit the brake when it's time to slow down. In my experience, it's easy to hit the gas, but hard to use the brake.
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