Hainan Province, the south China island, has achieved remarkable growth in the past two years since an official free trade port (FTP) development plan was officially initiated in 2020.

Last year, Hainan's overall GDP totaled 647.52 billion yuan ($101.77 billion), surging 11.2 percent from a year earlier, according to official data in January.

It was also the fastest average growth among China's provincial regions over the past two years, according to official data reported by local media.

As a tropical island covering a total land area of 3.518 million hectares, Hainan has superior natural conditions, including a 1,944-kilometer coastline deemed a "treasure" for the tourism industry.

However, the island's new development paradigm goes beyond the traditional attraction of the island's scenery, eyeing instead advantages brought by the FTP.

New plan drives new growth

The master plan of establishing a FTP in Hainan was proposed by the Chinese government in 2018 and it was soon carried out in 2020.

To build a globally influential and high-level FTP, over 180 policies and measures, including the country's first negative list for services trade and the zero-tariff policy for some imported goods, have taken effect in Hainan during the past two years. These have promoted and facilitated trade and investment.

In 2021, a total of 1,936 foreign-invested companies were established in Hainan, surging 92.64 percent year on year. Actual foreign investment reached $3.52 billion, up 16.2 percent from the previous year, official data showed.

So far, the number of registered market entities in Hainan has increased from less than 310,000 in 2013 to more than 1.98 million.

The retail sector also saw a strong growth thanks to the province's unique offshore duty-free policy.

Duty-free shopping is one of the core competitive features of Hainan's tourism consumption, and more than 81 million domestic and overseas tourists visited in 2021, up 25.5 percent on a yearly basis.

Tourist spending helped Hainan's total retail sales of consumer goods reach about 249.8 billion yuan in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 26.5 percent.

To further support Hainan's position as a new platform for China's opening-up, the first China International Consumer Products Expo was held in Haikou in May of 2021.

The annual event was China's first national expo featuring quality consumer goods. It is also the largest consumer boutique exhibition in the Asia-Pacific region.

In 2021, representatives from a total of 70 countries and regions attended the four-day event, featuring 2,628 brands under 1,505 enterprises from home and abroad. It has demonstrated the strong magnetic force of the Chinese market and the appeal of the FTP construction.

This year, the second expo currently ongoing in Hainan has attracted more than 1,600 international brands from 61 countries and regions, with top brands in many subsectors attending for the first time.

More goals for the future

China's central government has been determined to implement an independent customs system in Hainan by 2025, as a part of the FTP blueprint.

The year of 2022 is a crucial year for Hainan FTP and a key period to prepare for an independent customs operations system in the whole island, according to a new investment guide released in April by Hainan's Commerce Department.

With the preferential position set by the country's national development strategy and achievements made, Hainan is targeting even more ambitious goals for future growth.

For this year, the island expects an economic growth of around 9 percent, the local government said in January. 

From 2021 to 2025, Hainan targets an annual growth rate above 10 percent, the island's 14th Five-Year Plan (FYP) showed, much higher than the annual growth around 6.5 percent made during the 13th FYP (2016 – 2020).

(With input from Xinhua)