Authorities in South China's Hainan Province announced on Sunday the decision to establish Jiangdong New District as a key priority area for the construction of the China (Hainan) Pilot Free Trade Zone, the Hainan Daily reported.
Jiangdong New District is located in the east coast area of Hainan's capital Haikou.
The establishment of the Jiangdong New District is a major step for the construction of the China (Hainan) Free Trade Pilot Zone, in a bid to "gradually explore and steadily advance the construction of a free trade port with Chinese characteristics," the report said.
The international bid work for the conceptual planning scheme for the Jiangdong New District was also launched on Sunday, aiming to invite the most outstanding planning agencies in the world to take part in the process, according to the report.
The central government vowed on April 13 to support Hainan in developing a pilot free trade port.
Under the policy, Hainan will be granted more autonomy in reform and in speeding up the fostering of a law-based, international and convenient business environment as well as a fair and open market environment, according to a report from the Xinhua News Agency in April.
China's national economic development zones reported steady trade growth in 2017.
The trade volume of the 219 national economic development zones reached 5.6 trillion yuan ($875 billion) in 2017, up 17.5 percent year-on-year, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce.
