China’s President Xi Jinping visited Hainan, calling for further development of the island province as a major trade hub for China. He sought for “adopting high standards for building Hainan Free Trade Port,” according to Xinhua news agency. The Hainan FTP will officially launch island-wide special customs operations on December 18 this year, which Xi said is a “landmark move of China to expand high-standard opening up and promote the development of an open world economy.”
Global Times reports the growth of Hainan: “In the past five years, the actual utilization of foreign capital in Hainan reached 102.5 billion yuan ($14.35 billion), with an average annual growth rate of 14.6%. A total of 8,098 new foreign-funded enterprises were established at an average annual growth rate of 43.7%, and 176 countries and regions invested in Hainan during this period, according to the latest data released at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office on Hainan FTP development on July 23.”
