Foreign diplomats hail Hainan's free trade port as promising

 Hainan will continue to expand its "circle of foreign friends" and will attract more and more global resources to develop the region's economy

HAIKOU, August 18. /TASS/. The diplomats who visited Hainan on August 13-15 praised the prospects for the island's free trade port, reported www.hihainan.info.

More than 70 foreign diplomats from 37 countries were on a three-day visit to Hainan to discuss international trade and economic cooperation with this Chinese region. They visited the sites with companies operating in the field of the Internet industry, cruise and medical tourism, modern services and advanced technologies.

“Over these few days we saw a lot of ambition, energy and goodwill here. We would like to see how the concept of Hainan's free trade port develops further, we hope that the Netherlands, with its knowledge and technology, can also play a role and contribute to its creation and promotion on a higher level," Consul General of the Netherlands in the Chinese city of Guangzhou Michil Birkins was quoted as saying.

Peleg Levy, Israel's Consul General in Guangzhou, noting the great importance of Hainan as a trade and transport hub, also stressed that this province is also of interest as a partner for the development of scientific and high-tech cooperation. According to the diplomat, Israeli companies have already held a seminar with the Lecheng International Medical Tourism Zone Office on the prospects for cooperation in the field of digital medicine.

During the visit, the diplomats visited Sanya — the science city of Yazhou Bay, the central business district and the duty free zone. Consul General of the Republic of Belarus in Guangzhou Andrei Popov highly appreciated the importance of the city's business center. According to him, as soon as this project is completed, it "will create new opportunities for the development of trade cooperation between different regions of Belarus and Hainan."

The recent diplomatic visit was the largest in terms of the number of foreign representatives who visited Hainan at a time since the province was formed in 1988. According to Wang Sheng, head of the international relations department of the Hainan Party Committee, "the arrival of foreign diplomats indicates that Hainan's free trade port is drawing more and more attention from the international community." He noted that Hainan will continue to expand its "circle of foreign friends" and will attract more and more global resources to develop the region's economy.