It has been a year since the Law on Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP) took effect on June 11, 2021.

Over the past year, the implementation of the law and the ensuing regulations has provided legal and institutional guarantees for the construction and development of the Hainan FTP, thus becoming an important engine for promoting high-quality economic development and high-level reform and opening up of the province.

The "Guiding Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Supporting Hainan to Comprehensively Deepen Reform and Opening Up," the "Overall Plan for the Construction of Hainan Free Trade Port," and the Law on Hainan FTP constitute the three institutional cornerstones for Hainan's development, Yang Jianhua, deputy head of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the CPC Hainan Provincial Committee, emphasized in an interview with the media on April 28.

According to the law, Hainan is able to formulate regulations on the construction of the FTP in light of specific local circumstances and actual needs. Yang emphasized that to effectively implement the law, the right to formulate regulations should be made full use of, and the implementation of the law should be strengthened.

As part of the efforts to create a favorable legal environment for accelerating the construction of a free trade port with Chinese characteristics and global influence, Hainan would accelerate the implementation of the institutional arrangements on liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment, fiscal and taxation systems, and eco-environmental protection, among others clarified by the FTP law, he said.

Since the implementation of the Law on Hainan FTP, Hainan has successively issued supporting regulations on its business environment, fair competition, and combating fraud in consumption, among other areas, ensuring that major reforms and opening up are law-based.

Data shows that the quality of Hainan's economic development has improved significantly. In 2021, the province's GDP increased by 11.2% year on year, ranking second in the country, fixed asset investment rose by 10.2% year on year, and total retail sales of consumer goods grew by 26.5% year on year.

Cui Jian, deputy director of the Hainan provincial department of commerce, said at a press conference on May 17 that Hainan's actual use of foreign capital had achieved leapfrog growth. In 2021, the province's actual use of foreign capital reached 3.52 billion dollars, a year-on-year increase of 16.2%, while its trade volume in goods reached a record high of 147.68 billion yuan, up 57.7% year on year, and 36.1 percentage points higher than the national figure.

In addition, Cui also said that the pace of opening up in Hainan's consumer sector has accelerated. By the end of 2021, the number of duty-free shops opened in Hainan had increased from four to 10.  

Meanwhile, offshore duty-free sales in Hainan reached 60.2 billion yuan in 2021, up 84% year on year, and China's leading duty-free operator China Duty Free Group, which became the world's largest travel retailer in 2020, further consolidated its position in 2021.

Going forward, in line with the international high-standard economic and trade rules, Hainan's commerce department would further promote institutional opening-up through improved rules, regulations, management and standards to continuously enhance Hainan's level of trade and investment liberalization and facilitation as well as the breadth and depth of its opening up, Cui said.

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