Hainan opens doors to woo more visitors

 Province increases duty-free shopping quota, adds more product categories

Hainan will substantially increase the annual offshore duty-free shopping quota for visitors from Wednesday as part of the efforts to boost development of Hainan Free Trade Port, officials said on Tuesday.

The Ministry of Finance, the General Administration of Customs and the State Taxation Administration said in a statement on Monday that individuals will be allowed to make duty-free purchases of 100,000 yuan ($14,130) every year, compared with 30,000 yuan now.

The categories of duty-free goods will also be expanded from the current 38 varieties to 45, with some electronic products such as smartphones, laptops, game players and wine products being added to the duty-free list.

The duty-free shopping policy was introduced in 2011 to help Hainan develop as a world-class international tourism destination and the shopping quota has been upgraded since then gradually. Offshore duty-free shopping volume stood at 53.8 billion yuan and the number of buyers amounted to 16.31 million by the end of 2019, according to data from the local Customs authorities.

"The move shows that the central authorities are not only using policy tools to meet tourists' spending desire and further stimulate their purchasing power in Hainan, but also injecting fresh momentum to the province's service sector, including airlines, cruises, conferences and exhibitions, catering and hospitality businesses to drive cross-industry collaborative development," said Liang Ming, a researcher with the Beijing-based Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.

He said this is part of the country's efforts to put in place economic and trade rules that match global standards. This has sent an important signal that China is fully capable of adopting proactive policies and promoting vigorous institutional innovation while mitigating the impact caused by the COVID-19 epidemic.

In addition to helping Hainan attract more tourists from other provinces during the post-COVID-19 era, he said the increased offshore duty-free shopping quota will attract tourists from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Russia and other parts of the world.

"The expanded quota policy, especially the lifting of the 8,000-yuan limit on a single duty-free product, will unlock the consumption power of high-end Chinese consumers, attract Chinese residents who will otherwise go shopping overseas to buy international brands, to Hainan island," said Xie Xiangxiang, an associate professor of tourism at Hainan University.

He said duty-free shopping is expected to become the new blockbuster "growth point" for Hainan's tourism industry.

Four duty-free shops are currently in operation in Hainan, with two in Haikou, the provincial capital, one in Boao of Qionghai on the eastern coast of the island and one in Sanya, a coastal resort city at the southern tip of Hainan island.

A new duty-free shopping city is under construction on the western coast in Haikou. Spread over 926,000 square meters and entailing an investment of 12.86 billion yuan, it will be a new shopping paradise when completed in 2023, according to the city government.

Luo Zilian, head of the General Administration of Customs' Sanya branch, said Hainan has benefited from its visa-free access for 59 nations by tapping into the local tourism boom and the Hainan Free Trade Port's greater connectivity. Customs authorities will continue to upgrade supervision over e-commerce activities to help consumers purchase more duty-free products.

The Ministry of Finance said on Tuesday that companies registered in the Hainan Free Trade Port and operating businesses in areas encouraged by the government can enjoy lower corporate income tax rate of 15 percent, which is lower than the general level of 25 percent for most companies in the country.

For foreign companies' income earned through their newly increased direct investment in tourism, modern services and high-tech industries in the port, the corporate income tax will be exempt, according to the ministry.

The Ministry of Finance and the country's tax authorities also clarified that income-tax exemptions would be given to high-end and most-needed talents. All the favorable tax policies are effective until 2024 and seek to support the development of the Hainan Free Trade Port, said a statement on the finance ministry's website.

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.

 

 

 

China's Ministry of Commerce plans to introduce new liberalization policy on Hainan

 The Chinese Ministry of Commerce intends to create a more open economy on the island

HAIKOU, August 19. /TASS/. China's Ministry of Commerce intends to test a number of economic liberalization measures in some experimental areas of the Island of Hainan, reported the Hainan Daily with reference to the complex program for the innovative development of pilot zones.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce proposes to quit some formalities of doing business on Hainan to create a more open economy on the island. For example, the country's authorities are considering the possibility of canceling the registration of foreign trade participants involved in the export and import of technologies. According to the government's plans, this measure should help revitalize the economic activity of these market players.

In addition, the authorities plan to cancel the registration procedures for franchising on Hainan. Franchisors (those who provide a franchise) will only need to disclose information about those who purchase a franchise on the website of the Ministry of Commerce at least 30 days before an agreement between them is reached. This will not apply to franchise businesses between regions.

Also, the Chinese authorities are going to allow foreign institutions to independently hold economic and technological exhibitions on the island. At the same time, the title of events should not include the words "China", "Chinese" and other similar wording. These events must be coordinated with the Hainan administration, regardless of whether they are held exclusively by foreign organizers or jointly with the Chinese partners.

In addition, the authorities intends to liberalize policies in Hainan's Lecheng International Medical Tourism Zone. They will simplify the procedure for obtaining visas for foreign patients, payments for treatment and diagnostics, as well as calculating health insurance.

In June the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Сhinese State Council published the “General Program for the Establishment of a Free Port on Hainan,” according to which the island’s administration intends to create an effective system to fulfill a number of important social and economic goals by 2025, and within 10 years to decisively enhance the innovative mechanisms for the region's development.

 

Hainan to boost wedding tourism industry

 

HAIKOU, August 28. /TASS/. China's Hainan intends to promote the development of the wedding tourism industry, it expects to go global in providing services for those who spend their honeymoon on the island. This was announced at the Shanghai presentation of the province's potential in this field, organized by the Hainan Administration of Tourism, Culture, Radio, Television and Sports.

The presentation took place in the northern part of the Bund, in Hongkou urban area. The event was attended by over 100 representatives of wedding event planners based in Shanghai and neighboring eastern provinces.

The presentation was part of a joint effort by the Hainan authorities to promote the province's free trade port and turn the island into an international center for tourism and consumption. The head of the department Xie Qiuxiong told the participants of the event about the favorable conditions created in the province for the development of wedding tourism.

In particular, since July, Hainan raised the quota for one person for purchases in duty free shops from 30,000 to 100,000 yuan (from $ 4,200 to $ 14,200), the list of duty free goods has been expanded as well. According to Xie Qiuxiong, the new policy is in the interest of consumers and will allow young couples to purchase more items such as jewelry, watches, wedding dresses and shoes from duty free stores.

There are currently over 100 hotels and 15 tourist attractions on Hainan offering a variety of wedding services. In addition, there are about 500 wedding photo studios and about 1,000 wedding agencies on the island.

According to official figures from the Hainan Wedding Tourism Association, in 2019, about 280,000 couples spent their honeymoon in Hainan province. About 380,000 more came to the province to take wedding photographs. Over the past year, about 2,600 wedding ceremonies were organized on the island.

Hainan betters the procedure of obtaining work and resident permits for foreigners

 HAIKOU, October 13. /TASS/. The Hainan authorities have reduced the time it takes to process work and residence permits for foreign specialists from 30 to 10 working days.

The island's authorities decided to comprehensively simplify the employment procedure for foreign highly skilled workers in order to promote the liberalization of the regional economy and the construction of Hainan's free trade port. For example, earlier, foreign specialists had to provide the provincial administrative bodies with 22 types of materials and fill in 93 fields with information in the documents, now their number has decreased to 18 and 73, respectively.

In addition, in the past, citizens of other countries planning to relocate to this Chinese province for work had to apply separately for employment and registration to two different departments: the Foreign Specialists Bureau and the Migration Department. Now a package of documents can be submitted at a time via the integrated system through an employer in all major cities and industrial parks on Hainan. The information about a new employee is uploaded to an online platform, and the relevant departments can get everything they need.

More than 10,000 foreign specialists currently live on Hainan, according to official figures. They work in education, tourism, transport, business services, science and technology, culture and other fields, and contribute greatly to the construction and development of Hainan's free trade port.

Over the recent years, the Hainan authorities have been pursuing a targeted policy of attracting valuable personnel. Thus, for example, a preferential income tax with the maximum rate of 15% is established for this category of employees. Moreover, the Hainan authorities provide a temporary residence permit for up to five years or a residence permit for foreign professionals and their family members.

 

 

Hainan's Haikou presents the plan on bettering business climate

 HAIKOU, October 16. /TASS./ The Haikou authorities (the administrative center of Hainan) have unveiled a plan to better the business climate for 2020-2025, reported www.hinews.cn. 

According to the news outlet, the measures were taken to promote the construction of Hainan's free trade port. The document includes three key initiatives: providing high-quality services to companies, promoting investment, and strengthening monitoring of the development of business environment.

The first initiative includes accelerating and optimizing the process of creating new enterprises entering Haikou's market, as well as improving the regulations in this area, improving the protection of the legitimate rights and interests of companies. Investment promotion means improving corporate finance, creating unified dispute resolution services. Boosting monitoring includes improving the quality of public services provided to companies, enhancing the system for protecting intellectual property rights.

According to the news outlet, 18 key indicators were established to control the plan's implementation. By 2022 they should reach the "good" mark, by 2025 — hit the "excellent" mark.

The authorities presented a plan for the free trade port’s development on June, 1. In accordance with the plan, the Hainan province will be turned into a special customs zone. The country’s government intends in general to wrap up the creation of the free trade port on the island by 2025: by this time the island should acquire a system to ensure free trade and investments. 

By 2035, the free trade port and its model will become more solid. By this time, Hainan intends to ensure the freedom of trade and investments, trans-border movement of capital, people and shipping.  

By 2025, the Chinese government intends to create an "international center for tourism and consumption" on Hainan. In order to do so, the "Eastern Hawaii" with their unique natural landscapes, thick rainforests and great climate will establish a developed network of hotels, which blend perfectly with white sandy beaches stretching along the coastline. The combination of an exotic subtropical nature and a modern eco-friendly infrastructure will boost tourist inflow to the island from the most distant parts of the world. 

 

Hainan presents plan on improving business climate on the island

 HAIKOU, October 25. /TASS/. The Hainan authorities have unveiled an action plan for 2020-2021 to create a top-notch business climate on the island. The document was published on the official website of the provincial administration.

 

The Hainan authorities intend to improve the conditions for doing business on the island in 11 areas, each of which has its own section in the document. These include the conditions for setting up a business, obtaining construction permits, registering property, obtaining loans, taxation, cross-border trade, investor protection, contract execution, bankruptcy, talent acquisition, and a service-oriented government.

 

The Hainan authorities are planning 31 activities to stimulate the activity of various market players and create an attractive international business environment based on the rule of law in the province. In particular, the Hainan authorities plan to simplify registration procedures for starting a business in key industrial parks - Yangpu Economic Development Zone, Lecheng International Medical Tourism Zone, Jiangdong New District and Yazhou Bay Science City.

 

The provincial government also intends to introduce a joint mechanism for lending to small and medium-sized enterprises in the scientific and technical fields, which will involve the state, banks and insurance companies. The government will select innovative SMEs, after which insurance companies will provide guarantees and banks will issue long-term loans. In the areas of tourism, modern services, high technology and other key industries, a guarantee lending model will be used, when big enterprises will act as guarantors for small companies.

 

In addition, the Hainan administration plans to streamline logistics in cross-border trade. In order to speed up customs clearance, the provincial authorities intend to improve the unified submission system for providing services to participants in trade chains, comprehensively promote a simplified two-stage declaration of imported goods, and optimize paperless document flow in the Yangpu container port.

 

By 2025, the Chinese government intends to create an "international center for tourism and consumption" on Hainan. In order to do so, the "Eastern Hawaii" with their unique natural landscapes, thick rainforests and great climate will establish a developed network of hotels, which blend perfectly with white sandy beaches stretching along the coastline. The combination of an exotic subtropical nature and a modern eco-friendly infrastructure will boost tourist inflow to the island from the most distant parts of the world.