China's free trade port wants to bring fashion to Hainan

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03:09

Hainan, China’s southern tropical island province, is building the nation’s first pilot free trade port. But apart from the flow of trade, capital and goods, artists and start-up entrepreneurs are trying to bring state-of-art fashion there.

In a hidden alley, a small group of people gathered in a café to listen to an indie live show. The weekly music event was almost impossible a few years ago in Haikou, the capital of Hainan Province, also known as China’s Hawaii.

"In 2015 and 2016, it was totally empty here," said Eva Wren, an independent musician and designer.

Wren studied music in the UK for several years and came to Hainan three years ago. She soon found the island to be a "cultural desert." But she decided to stay and make a difference.

"We think the fashion thing can actually be connected to it," Wren noted.

"Why can’t we build Hainan into a platform to connect foreign brands with the Chinese mainland and Southeast Asia?"

Eva Wren performs. /CGTN Photo

So Eva started to work with a Russian company called Sempro Group to make that happen.

In February, the five-day Boao Fashion Art Week, the first international fashion event in Hainan’s history, was held on the island, showcasing 20 independent brands from 10 countries.

"We welcomed people from all over the world, China and the region, like Thailand, the Philippines, Russia, Kazakhstan, and so on," Iain Inglis from Sempro Group said.

The success of the fashion week made Inglis and his partners consider moving the company’s Asia headquarters from Hong Kong to Hainan.

They were told the whole registration process would only take one day.

"My colleagues said that’s great. But I was always skeptical," Inglis added. "I said that’s impossible. But actually, they did. I’m not joking. We have all the information that was necessary. And the next day, we had a company."

Soon after that, the Chinese government announced that Hainan would host the nation’s first free trade port. The fashion industry is also part of the plan.

Iain Inglis (R) relocated to Hainan 12 years ago. /‍CGTN Photo

Wren told CGTN that the local government has come to them many times, in the hope of reaching more cooperation deals on developing the local fashion industry.

"They want to offer something that (encourages) international designers (to bring) their studios here or the companies here," Wren said.

To attract more foreigners, a new policy came into force on May 1, 2018 allowing nationals from 59 countries to enjoy a 30-day visa-free stay on the tropical island.

But for a foreign company like Sempro, that policy is still not enough.

Inglis explained: "As somebody who hopes to hire foreign employees in the future, I hope the visa process, especially work visa will be improved. That will be very important."

His concern is already being addressed by the local government.

"We’re now planning to reform the current foreigner registration system," said Huang Qian, deputy director of the Department Of Organization within the CPC Hainan Provincial Committee. "We’ll take a more active and effective policy to encourage foreigners to work in Hainan."

Wren said the construction of a free trade port is not only about free flow of capital and trade, but also about the free flow of minds and people.