Hainan FTP aims to create opportunities, inject momentum into global economic cooperation: officials
(ECNS) -- The Hainan free trade port (FTP) stands ready to work with global partners to overcome development challenges through openness, pool innovation momentum through cooperation, and shape a future of shared prosperity through win-win solutions, said Hainan Province governor Liu Xiaoming at a panel discussion during the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference 2025 in Boao, on Tuesday.
The mission of free trade zones (ports) is to break down barriers, not build walls; to create opportunities, not monopolize benefits, Liu stressed.
The year 2025 marks the customs closure and expansion of Hainan Free Trade Port. After the customs closure, the FTP would significantly enhance trade and investment facilitation with global partners while strengthening its connectivity with China's vast domestic market, Liu said.
Since the establishment of the Hainan FTP, it has pioneered the implementation of international high-standard economic and trade rules, rolling out policies including the "zero-tariff" list. A policy framework centered on "free and convenient trade, investment, cross-border capital flows, personnel movement, transportation, and secure and orderly data flow" has been established, unleashing strong potential for export-oriented economic growth.
Official statistics show that in 2024, Hainan's goods imports and exports grew by 20 percent year-on-year, while service trade expanded by 23.9 percent. The province ranked among China's top performers in actual utilization of foreign capital and outbound investment scale.
Amid the accelerating evolution of profound global changes unseen in a century, the Hainan FTP is injecting new momentum into international economic and trade cooperation through institutional innovation and policy breakthroughs, said the vice governor of Hainan Province, Xie Jing.
In 2023, the Hainan FTP launched an initiative together with 25 FTZs at home and abroad, calling for more partnerships across the globe. Currently, it has friended with 38 FTZs across Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America.
The subforum of the Boao Forum has been held for five consecutive years and has become an important platform for promoting exchanges and cooperation among global free trade zones (ports).
(By Zhang Dongfang)