What does the free trade zone in Hainan mean for Chinese agriculture?

CCTV announced on April 13th, 2018, that the entire island of Hainan will become a pilot free trade zone with a free trade port with Chinese characteristics. Foreign ships are allowed to freely enter and leave the free trade zone. Foreign product import is exempt from taxation, and the supervision of quotas is also abolished. This free trade zone opens the country to foreign trade. The free trade zone will also attract foreign investment, develop export for processing businesses, and encourage foreign investors to establish large-scale commercial ventures, as well as promote the economic systems within the free trade zone and overall development.

Sanya in Hainan

Hainan is famous for its tropical climate and natural resources, but large parts of the island actually have a temperate climate. From the viewpoint of mainland China, however, almost half the country's tropical regions are in Hainan. Many farmers move their plantations to Hainan, because the island has three harvest seasons per year. If the country continues to increase production and improve agricultural technology, then Hainan could become a global plantation.

Convenient distribution facility

The establishment of a free trade zone will undoubtedly bring Hainan many opportunities. First, the price of import products will go down. This naturally includes agricultural products. Lower prices are likely to stimulate consumer desire to buy imported agricultural products. At the same time, this is a critical turning point for import and export traders, who will require a push for innovative development in agricultural trade. 

Hainan Tropical agriculture industry to flourish

Hainan, China's only tropical island province, is boosting tropical agriculture as a pillar industry of its supply-side reform agenda during the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) period, according to local officials.

Zhou Yanhua, deputy director of the Hainan Provincial Department of Agriculture, said with a tropical marine and monsoon climate that provides sufficient sunshine and rainfall, Hainan has unlimited potential to develop a unique agricultural industry.

The island has a beautiful natural environment, quality air and water, unpolluted soil and organic farms.

She said Hainan's green image offers significant market potential for its agricultural goods, because people care more about product quality these days.

As the country's largest special economic zone, Hainan enjoys flexible policies that have helped to develop an agricultural structure that highlights high-efficiency farming instead of grain production, Zhou said.

The province's efforts to build an international tourist destination, aiming to attract 80 million visitors per year by 2020, will also create huge demand for tropical farming products and leisure farming projects.

The local agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery businesses mainly include marine fishing, aquaculture, tropical fruits, the cultivation of winter vegetables, high-quality livestock and poultry breeding, rubber and coffee, as well as other tropical crops.

Growth in the agricultural industry is gaining new momentum thanks to new vigor generated in the industry by the National Tropical Agriculture International Exchange and Cooperation Center, 100 national modern agriculture parks, provincial-level modern farming demonstration bases, 30 internet agriculture towns, more than 4,000 e-commerce farm produce stores and 28 publicly listed companies.

The Ministry of Agriculture is also supporting Hainan in establishing itself as a demonstration province for ecological recycling agriculture.

The integration of agricultural businesses is accelerating and leisure agriculture village tourism is becoming an important attraction for all-encompassing tourism, according to Zhou.

"As a step taken to upgrade the province's agriculture structure, we have prepared a large number of projects for investors to consider at the 2017 Hainan Comprehensive Investment Fair to be held next week in Haikou. The sectors include planting, aquaculture, processing, leisure farming and e-commerce for farm products," said Zhou.

Hainan is striving to introduce more social funds from home and abroad to promote integration across the agricultural industry, enhance its international competitiveness and help build a beautiful new Hainan.

"As the country is entering a new period of promoting agricultural supply-side structural reform, Hainan has a promising future and investors have huge opportunities for business success," said Zhou.

Natural conditions and development efforts in recent years have laid a solid foundation for Hainan's further development, according to officials. Over the past five years, the agricultural industry's added-value growth has remained higher than 5 percent annually, according to official statistics.

Officials from the provincial agricultural authorities said Hainan is busy building a number of new production bases to boost the quality and efficiency of farming products.

The National Tropical Modern Agricultural Base is driving this change. The organization includes a national winter vegetable base, a tropical fruit base, a winter crop breeding and reproduction base, a tropical plants base, an ocean fishing base and an animal disease-free zone.


By Ma Zhiping ( China Daily )

Trading center for Hainan international tropical agricultural products inaugurated in Haikou

HAIKOU, China, Jan. 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The trading center for Hainan international tropical agricultural products was inaugurated in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province on December 18, 2018.

On the same day, the Xinhua-HSF natural rubber series price indexes were released, consisting of concentrated latex price index, standard rubber (TSR20) price index, mixed rubber (20#) price index, and field latex price index.

The series of indexes, compiled jointly by China Economic Information Service (CEIS) of Xinhua News Agency and Hainan State Farms Investment Holdings Group Co., Ltd (HSF), is China's first price index system that integrates rubber production and sales.

The release of such series price indexes is expected to further increase the popularity of Hainan international agricultural products, such as field latex, at home and abroad, and expand the international influence of HSF.

Su Huizhi, vice president of CEIS said that the natural rubber series price indexes realize the combination of big data and related industries, which will gradually form a credible value benchmark for natural rubber by collecting and refining large amounts of market data to improve transaction efficiency and credibility.

At present, HSF has made extensive economic and trade cooperation with countries along the Belt and Road routes, including Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, and Sierra Leone, and become the world's first multinational company with the largest area of rubber planting and trade volume. So far in 2018, its overseas revenue has accounted for more than 80 percent of its total.

Yang Sitao, chairman with HSF said that the trading center for Hainan international tropical agricultural products will continuously improve the trading mechanism, strengthen the construction of digital platform, and optimize the mode of service, so as to introduce more tropical agricultural products from Hainan and overseas countries onto the platform for trading.

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SOURCE China Economic Information Service

General Introduction of Agriculture in Hainan

Hainan province, located in the southernmost point of China, is evergreen all year round and thus usually known as “the natural greenhouse”. As the most important production base of natural rubber，breeding base of crop seed in southern China, Specific Animal Disease Free Zone and tropical agricultural base, Hainan considers agriculture as the fundamental, pillar and competitive industry in its economy.     I. General Introduction of Agriculture in Hainan Located in the southernmost point of China, Hainan boasts a tropical marine monsoon climate with abundant sunlight and temperature which are suitable for the photosynthesis of plants. Therefore, Hainan is rich in resources of species and vegetations and is considered as the golden place for developing tropical high-efficiency agriculture with its own characteristics. Hainan covers a land area of 3.5354 million hectares, 42.5% of the tropical and subtropical land in China. The arable land is 769,000 hectares, which is 21.8% of the province’s total land area. Hainan has a population of 8.178 million, among which the agrarian population is 5.6 million, accounting for 68.5% of the total population.

In recent years, Hainan has carried out the development strategy of “a province with one base and one resort” (i.e. building Hainan into a newly industrialized province with a tropical high-efficiency agricultural base and a tourist resort.), continuously consolidated the fundamental and pillar position of agriculture, actively pushed forward the strategic adjustment of agriculture and rural economic structure with the market demand as the orientation and resources as the basis, intensified the effort in developing market agriculture, green agriculture and technological agriculture, promoted the industrialized operation of agriculture and the overall quality of agriculture so as to accelerate the development of agricultural economy. In 2006, the added value of agriculture in Hainan reached 34.42 billion yuan, increased by 9.1% compared with the same period of last year; the per capita net income of farmers is 3,256 yuan, increased by 8.4% compared with the same period of last year, which exceeds the goal stipulated by the Eleventh Five-Year Plan of a year-on-year growth rate of 6%The added value of agriculture still accounts for 32.73% of the total GDP of Hainan.     II. Development of Competitive Industries of Hainan’s Agriculture Unique natural resource and sound ecological environment contribute to the diversified structures and distinctive features of Hainan’s agriculture. Compared to other provinces nationwide, the competitive industries and industries with special characteristics of Hainan’s agriculture can be classified in six groups:     (1) Out-of-season vegetables. In winter, thanks to its abundant sunlight and suitable temperature, Hainan has incomparable advantages in cultivating vegetables with their low cost and outstanding quality. The annual vegetable acreage in Hainan is 3.2158 million acres with a total output of 4.487 million tons. This has become one of the major sources of farmers’ income. 80% of the out-of-season vegetables are sold to 50 large- and medium-size cities in mainland China, while the rest are exported to Japan, South Korea, and Hong Kong, etc.     (2) Tropical fruits. In recent years, tropical fruit industry has witnessed a rapid growth and ranked one of the competitive industries with great potential. Hainan boasts a great variety of fruits, such as banana, mango, pineapple, jackfruit, litchi, longan, carambola, green orange, wax-apple. The total fruit acreage in Hainan reaches 2.5461 million acres with a total output of 1.8785 million tons, among which banana acreage is 690,000 acres with an output of 1.0863 million tons, mango 692,500 acres with an output of 262,400 tons, ranking the first in China, pineapple 192,500 acres with an output of 211,400 tons, litchi and longan 633,800 acres with an output of 109,100 tons.     (3) Tropical cash crops. The tropical crop is a distinctive feature of Hainan’s agriculture, which includes rubber, coconut, betel palm, pepper, coffee bean, etc. The annual total tropical crop acreage of Hainan stands at 7.8923 million acres, among which natural rubber acreage is 6.0323 million acres with the dry glue output of 247,500 tons, accounting for 46.9% of the national total output, coconut 646,100 acres with an output of 214 million tons, 98.7% of the national total output, betel palm 796,000 acres with an output of 74,800 tons, 100% of the national total output, pepper 343,900 acres with an output of 31,400 tons, 98.7% of the national total output.     (4) Husbandry. Surrounded by sea, which provides a natural protection against epidemics, Hainan island has prominent advantages and distinct features in developing husbandry. Wenchang Chicken, Jiaji Duck, Dongshan Mutton, Lingao Roast Pig enjoy high reputation inside and outside the Island. In particular, as the construction of the Specific Animal Disease Free Zone and the epidemic prevention monitoring system continuously improve, Hainan has not only successfully controlled the occurring and spreading of the major animal epidemics such as Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza and safeguarded its brand name as the epidemic-free and healthy island, but also effectively promoted the rapid development of husbandry of the whole province. Last year, the total output of meat products of Hainan reached 683,100 tons with the double digital growth rate for five consecutive years. The meat products have been sold to the mainland market, which lays a solid foundation for the construction of the National Livestock and Poultry Product Export Base.     (5) Seed breeding industry. As the seed breeding base in southern China, every year Hainan receives 5,000 experts and researchers specializing in seed breeding from all over the country. They have come to Hainan to launch research and production in breeding seeds, adding generations and testing and made a great contribution to seed improvement and upgrading by breeding seeds of 150,000 acres with the output of 28,000 tons;     (6) Processing industry for agricultural products. Hainan has a wide range of agriculture specialties with considerable production capacity. But the scale of the processing industry is not large enough and still has room for improvement. There are more than 3,500 processing enterprises in Hainan, among which only 360 have realized economy of scale. Though the added value of the processing industry reaches 3 billion, the conversion rate is only 35% lower than the national average. Given the above factors, the processing industry of tropical agricultural products promises a vast market and immense potential.

China's Hainan to promote dev. of agricultural product processing industry

BEIJING, June 22 (Xinhua) -- South China's Hainan Province on Thursday unveiled a guideline to vigorously promote development of the agricultural product processing enterprises and enhance comprehensive benefits and competitiveness of the agriculture.

Under the guideline, Hainan will add a number of leading agricultural product processing enterprises. By 2020, the output value of the sizable agricultural product processing enterprises each with the main business revenue above 20 million yuan annually will exceed 50 billion yuan, while that of the agricultural product processing industry will exceed 100 billion yuan.

By 2025, the output value of the sizable agricultural product processing enterprises will reach 80 billion yuan, while that of the industry will amount to 160 billion yuan, said the guideline.

The Province will vigorously develop the agricultural culture and creative processing industry, speed up development of the international agricultural product processing industry and expand the export-oriented processing industry targeting the markets along the Belt and Road routes.

Meanwhile, the Province will accelerate the establishment of Hainan tropical agriculture industrial development fund and encourage social capital to set up industrial investment funds in related fields. It will also offer favorable tax policies and electricity consumption policies to the leading agricultural product processing enterprises. (Edited by Hu Pingchao, hupingchao@xinhua.org)

Hainan cultivating high-tech agriculture

Hainan province is increasingly working to hasten agricultural supply side structural reforms, speed up the development of the sector's modernization and strengthen tropical agriculture.

Before it was upgraded to a province in 1988, about 80 percent of its grain and animal husbandry products was supplied from outside. But it is now becoming the country's biggest fruit and vegetable producer in the winter, contributing 4.8 million metric tons of vegetables to the domestic market last year.

A total of 430 tons of litchee, longan, mango, paw paw and green oranges were exported from Hainan to Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States last year, while another 960 tons of fresh vegetables were sold to Hong Kong, according to official statistics.

Xu Yun, director of the Hainan provincial department of agriculture, said the province is restructuring its agricultural sector by reducing low-efficiency industries and products such as sugar cane and eucalyptus. Instead, it is expanding higher quality produce varieties such as winter vegetables and melons, sweet potatoes, pineapples, grapefruits and cherry tomatoes.

Chengmai, about 60 kilometers from the provincial capital of Haikou, is one of the regions that has reaped benefits from restructuring local farming. "Our Qiaotou brand sweet potatoes sell well in Beijing and Shanghai, as well as markets in Japan and Canada," said Wang Wenke, head of Changtang village in Qiaotou town, Chengmai－an area known for its rich soil and the longevity of its locals.

The 40-year-old village head made a living in cities after graduating from a university in Nanjing, and then returned to Changtang, his home village, in 2007. At the time he convinced his fellow villagers to try cultivating sweet potatoes instead of the traditional lower-profit rice.

Sweet potato fields have expanded to 1,800 hectares in Qiaotou, a town of 22,000 residents, and a research institute developing virus-free seedlings there is helping promote better farming practices. Output value from sweet potato harvesting reached 360 million yuan ($57 million) last year. About 310,000 tourists visited Qiaotou in 2017 to enjoy digging up sweet potatoes for themselves last year.

The Qiaotou model of introducing high-efficiency farming is being copied across the island.

Dongfang, on Hainan's southwest coast, now has large fields of red flesh dragon fruit and white chrysanthemums after converting wasteland into farmland. Its export of winter white chrysanthemums accounts for over half of the country's total and is growing at 20 percent a year.

The 733-hectare Lingshui modern agriculture demonstration zone on the east coast, launched in 2015, has played an active role in showcasing the importance of technology in farming. A vertical farming system introduced from Singapore can now produce 27.5 tons of vegetables per mu (0.066 hectare) a year versus output from traditional farming of just 4 tons.

Xu, the agricultural official, said Hainan will accelerate agricultural standardization to realize comprehensive high efficiency production. It will cultivate 30 leading sectors in planting, aquaculture and processing while developing 30 key products to upgrade the competitiveness of quality Hainan farm produce.

By MA ZHIPING/LIU XIAOLI | China Daily | Updated: 2018-04-06 08:19

Hainan cultivating high-tech agriculture

Hainan province is increasingly working to hasten agricultural supply side structural reforms, speed up the development of the sector’s modernization and strengthen tropical agriculture.

Before it was upgraded to a province in 1988, about 80 percent of its grain and animal husbandry products was supplied from outside. But it is now becoming the country’s biggest fruit and vegetable producer in the winter, contributing 4.8 million metric tons of vegetables to the domestic market last year.

A total of 430 tons of litchee, longan, mango, pawpaw and green oranges were exported from Hainan to Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States last year, while another 960 tons of fresh vegetables were sold to Hong Kong, according to official statistics.

Xu Yun, director of the Hainan provincial department of agriculture, said the province is restructuring its agricultural sector by reducing low-efficiency industries and products such as sugar cane and eucalyptus. Instead, it is expanding higher quality produce varieties such as winter vegetables and melons, sweet potatoes, pineapples, grapefruits and cherry tomatoes.

Chengmai, about 60 kilometers from the provincial capital of Haikou, is one of the regions that has reaped benefits from restructuring local farming. “Our Qiaotou brand sweet potatoes sell well in Beijing and Shanghai, as well as markets in Japan and Canada,” said Wang Wenke, head of Changtang village in Qiaotou town, Chengmai — an area known for its rich soil and the longevity of its locals.

The 40-year-old village head made a living in cities after graduating from a university in Nanjing, and then returned to Changtang, his home village, in 2007. At the time he convinced his fellow villagers to try cultivating sweet potatoes instead of the traditional lower-profit rice.

Sweet potato fields have expanded to 1,800 hectares in Qiaotou, a town of 22,000 residents, and a research institute developing virus-free seedlings there is helping promote better farming practices. Output value from sweet potato harvesting reached 360 million yuan ($57 million) last year. About 310,000 tourists visited Qiaotou in 2017 to enjoy digging up sweet potatoes for themselves last year.

The Qiaotou model of introducing high-efficiency farming is being copied across the island.

Dongfang, on Hainan’s southwest coast, now has large fields of red flesh dragon fruit and white chrysanthemums after converting wasteland into farmland. Its export of winter white chrysanthemums accounts for over half of the country’s total and is growing at 20 percent a year.

The 733-hectare Lingshui modern agriculture demonstration zone on the east coast, launched in 2015, has played an active role in showcasing the importance of technology in farming. A vertical farming system introduced from Singapore can now produce 27.5 tons of vegetables per mu (0.066 hectare) a year versus output from traditional farming of just 4 tons.

Xu, the agricultural official, said Hainan will accelerate agricultural standardization to realize comprehensive high efficiency production. It will cultivate 30 leading sectors in planting, aquaculture and processing while developing 30 key products to upgrade the competitiveness of quality Hainan farm produce.

Ma Zhiping/Liu Xiaoli

Updated: Apr 6,2018 1:32 PM     China Daily

Sci-tech led island’s trajectory of success

Wenchang satellite launch center, near the shoreline in Hainan province.[Photo/Xinhua]

Back in 1988, when Hainan island split from Guangdong province and became a province of its own, it was undeveloped. Its economy was dominated by low-productivity agriculture and fishing, which together generated half its GDP of 7.7 billion yuan ($1.1 billion).

But science and technology have played a decisive role in recent years in Hainan, and are serving as a new driver of economic growth.

According to Hainan officials, the island province will focus on technologies embracing such things as hybrid seeds, deep-ocean research and space exploration, for which it has unique geographical advantages, and make them leading players in the country over the next five years.

Three tech cities will likely be launched within the year to enhance those sectors, they said.

With advances in science and technology, Hainan has earned a reputation as an agricultural leader. It is now said to be China’s largest “winter vegetable basket” and is considered a “Silicon Valley” of seed breeding.

Nearly 18,000 hectares, or about 33.5 percent of the island’s farmland, are under protection as permanent prime land for crops, and ensure that Hainan will become the country’s largest base for seed breeding.

Every year from September until May, more than 6,000 scientific research personnel from 30 provinces and regions in China — including the country’s “father of hybrid rice”, Yuan Longping — are drawn to Sanya, Lingshui and Ledong in southern Hainan, to immerse themselves in hybrid seed research in ideal tropical island weather.

“Hainan used to provide us fields to carry out research, but more supporting facilities, high-tech laboratories and accommodations, are also provided nowadays,” said Hua Zetian, a scholar of the National Hybrid Rice Engineering Technology Research Center. Hua has worked in Sanya for 30 years.

The Hainan provincial government has injected 200 million yuan for seed breeding technology, and the transfer of the knowledge into industrial production.

The output of winter vegetables on the island has notably increased, thanks to the application of new farming science and technology.

Winter vegetable planting has expanded to 194,000 hectares, producing 3.41 million tons of vegetables, which are sold in cities outside the island. Profits have reached 10 billion yuan, according to Ke Yongchun, head of the Sanya Science and Technology Academy, part of the Base of National Breeding and Multiplication.

“Seeds cultivated in Hainan have been sold in countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative,” Hua said.

Hainan will emphasize science and technology innovation to boost its 12 pillar industries’ development — including tourism, high-efficiency agriculture, internet-based business, exhibitions and marine economy — in the next five years, according to the annual government work report released in January.

Haosheng village, near the Wenchang satellite launch center — China’s fourth — is growing vegetables and fruit varieties that were developed with help of space technology, and developing space-technology-themed tourism that helped increase its villagers’ income by 52 percent last year.

China’s first deep-sea research institute, the Institute of Deep-Sea Science and Engineering, which is affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, settled in Sanya in 2016. Hainan will better explore its marine resources and improve naval technology, provincial officials said.

The added value of Hainan’s new high-tech industry rose 14.8 percent to 21.2 billion yuan in 2017, and the number of related enterprises increased from 127 in 2013 to 269 last year, according to Shi Yiyun, head of Hainan’s Science and Technology Department.

“We will stick to reforming science and technology mechanisms to provide a better environment for research,” said Guo Zhangcheng, Party secretary of Hainan’s sci-tech department. Hainan will also introduce more talent to foster greater vitality in innovation and entrepreneurship, Guo said. — in the next five years, according to the annual government work report released in January.

Haosheng village, near the Wenchang satellite launch center — China’s fourth — is growing vegetables and fruit varieties that were developed with help of space technology, and developing space-technology-themed tourism that helped increase its villagers’ income by 52 percent last year.

China’s first deep-sea research institute, the Institute of Deep-Sea Science and Engineering, which is affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, settled in Sanya in 2016. Hainan will better explore its marine resources and improve naval technology, provincial officials said.

The added value of Hainan’s new high-tech industry rose 14.8 percent to 21.2 billion yuan in 2017, and the number of related enterprises increased from 127 in 2013 to 269 last year, according to Shi Yiyun, head of Hainan’s Science and Technology Department.

“We will stick to reforming science and technology mechanisms to provide a better environment for research,” said Guo Zhangcheng, Party secretary of Hainan’s sci-tech department. Hainan will also introduce more talent to foster greater vitality in innovation and entrepreneurship, Guo said.

Ma Zhiping and Liu Xiaoli

Updated: Apr 11,2018 8:52 AM     China Daily