Guests talk at the Global Free Trade Ports Development Forum, Boao, south China's Hainan Province, March 29, 2023. /BFA
An initiative calling for more partnership between free trade zones (FTZ) across the globe has been launched in Boao, south China's Hainan Province, on Wednesday.
The initiative was proposed by more than 20 FTZs in China, the UAE, South Korea, Cambodia, Malaysia and Cote d'Ivoire.
Five suggestions were made for the partnership, including:
1. Strengthening cooperation in aviation and shipping networks, logistics and cross-border e-commerce;
2. Carrying out cross-border and cross-region cooperation in industrial parks;
3. Promoting international cooperation in digital economy and green economy;
4. Learning from each other's useful experience and good practices;
5. Supporting the establishment of a pragmatic and efficient working mechanism.
The initiative was launched during the Global Free Trade Ports Development Forum, which is a part of the 2023 Annual Conference of the Boao Forum for Asia, which lasts from March 28 to 31.
CGTN host Zhong Shi moderated the forum.
"Hainan will create a broader deeper and more extensive pattern of opening up," Li Rongcan, head of the political advisory body in Hainan Province, said at the forum.
Li Rongcan attends the Global Free Trade Ports Development Forum, Boao, south China's Hainan Province, March 29, 2023. /BFA
"The province will align itself with international rules and management to expand institutional openness," Li added.
Sok Sopheak, secretary of state at Cambodia's Ministry of Commerce, told the forum that the country is already taking actions.
Sok Sopheak speaks during a panel discussion at the Global Free Trade Ports Development Forum, Boao, south China's Hainan Province, March 29, 2023. /BFA
"We have planned many new projects for the next two years," Sok said. "We are building a new airport and establishing flight routes to Hainan."