‘China’s Hawaii’ set to become pilot free-trade port in next phase of country’s opening up
President Xi Jinping announces grand plan for Hainan that could see it challenging major ports such as Hong Kong and Singapore
China will make the tropical island of Hainan – a province sometimes described as the country’s Hawaii – into a pilot free-trade port, President Xi Jinping announced on Friday.
Xi unveiled the grand plan for the island of 9.3 million people when he attended a conference in Haikou, the provincial capital, to mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Hainan special economic zone, confirming the South China Morning Post’s report on Sunday.
As well as becoming China’s 12th free-trade zone, Hainan, a 35,000 square kilometre (13,500 square mile) island, will go a step further by becoming the largest free-trade port in the world and may challenge other regional trading ports from Hong Kong to Singapore.
Xi did not specify what the change entailed, but said Hainan should become a pilot zone for deeper reform and opening up as well as for building “ecological civilisation”.
There are also plans to turn the island into a global tourism hotspot and strategic base for the country.
