China Reports Unprecedented Take-Off of Hainan Province Foreign Trade

Foreign trade in Hainan Province of China soared 31.8% in two years of construction of a pilot free trade zone in the region, Xinhua news agency reported on April 26. Imports and exports of the region reached 183.86 billion yuan (about $25.96 billion) from April 2018 to March 2020, according to customs in Haikou, the capital of the region. Exports reached 68.01 billion yuan during this period, an increase of 51.3% compared to the same period of previous years. Imports rose by 22.5% to 115.85 billion yuan. Trade with the region's ASEAN countries grew by 60.2% to 51.26 billion yuan over that two-year period, making the region the province's largest trading partner. Hainani's main foreign trade items were oil products and duty-free products. Exports of petroleum products increased 1.2 times to 32.41 billion yuan during this period, and imports of duty-free goods reached 20.97 billion yuan, which is 95.4% higher than in the previous reporting period. We remind that China intends to turn the island province of Hainan, located in the south of the country, into a high-quality free trade zone by 2020, and by 2035 to make it a free trading port with Chinese features.