President Xi Jinping – visiting Hainan province – underlined the significance of developing the Hainan Free Trade Port into a landmark project showcasing the best of China, saying that the port should give high priority to innovation at the institutional level. Xi called for quicker steps in building a free trade port with Chinese characteristics and global influence and enabling the province to lead the way in China’s reform and opening-up in the new era. During the trip, Xi visited Sanya, Wuzhishan and Danzhou and spoke with workers from research institutions, a national park and a port, as well as residents from a village of the Li ethnic group. He noted that the building of a free trade port in Hainan is a complex and systemic project that would be a long-term endeavor. The development of the Hainan Free Trade Port was proposed by Xi in 2018 at a meeting marking the 30th anniversary of the Hainan Special Economic Zone.
China unveiled a master plan in June 2020, aiming to build the island into a free trade port with global influence by the middle of the century. The free trade port is set to introduce islandwide customs clearance operations by 2025. It is important to focus on the development of the tourism, modern services and high-tech sectors and high-efficiency tropical agriculture, and quicken steps to develop a modern industry system, President Xi said. He called for promoting the commercialization of innovation and the protection of the environment. He said that the Tropical Rainforest National Park in the province is a national treasure, a key water and grain reserve, a source of wealth and an important carbon sink.
President Xi also reiterated that China would stick to the dynamic zero-Covid policy, the China Daily reports.
