On December 18, the Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP) officially launched island-wide customs closure operations, marking a major new phase in China’s opening-up. With the simultaneous activation of 10 “second-line ports,” the entire island of Hainan has been upgraded to a special customs supervision zone, fully implementing a policy framework centered on “opening the first line, managing the second line, and ensuring free circulation within the island.”
Following the launch, Hainan’s connections with international markets will become more efficient and seamless. Under the “first-line opening,” the scope of zero-tariff goods has expanded significantly to around 6,600 tariff items, increasing coverage from 21 percent to 74 percent, while the range of eligible beneficiaries has been substantially broadened. Enterprises can now independently apply for zero-tariff treatment through the newly launched declaration functions on Hainan’s international trade “single window.” At the same time, the policy granting duty-free domestic sales for goods with at least 30 percent value-added processing has been further optimized, with noticeably lower thresholds, alongside relaxed management measures for certain imported goods.
While opening up, Hainan has strengthened targeted, low-intervention and high-efficiency supervision at the “second line” to ensure risks remain controllable and operations orderly, achieving both openness and effective regulation. Within the island, various factors of production can circulate relatively freely. Zero-tariff goods and their processed products may be stored and traded freely within the free trade port, with no time limits on storage.
Customs closure does not mean isolation, but rather a higher level of institutional opening-up. In terms of people-to-people movement, facilitation measures for travel between Hainan and the Chinese mainland remain unchanged, and ordinary passport holders from 86 countries may enter Hainan visa-free. The flows of capital, logistics, and information are also being accelerated, helping to build an institutional system aligned with high-standard international economic and trade rules.
The impact of these opening measures is already evident. On the first day of customs closure operations, Siemens Energy, a Fortune Global 500 company, established a new company in Hainan. Standing at a new starting point of openness, Hainan is moving rapidly to build a new gateway to the world, injecting greater certainty and fresh momentum into China’s—and the global—economic development.
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