-efforts to turn the Chinese province into a free trade port ongoing
-education, agriculture, health being bolstered with digitisation

By Trina Williams in Beijing, China

AMIDST the worldwide economic challenges, which are causing a global turbulence, Hainan is opening up new and promising prospects and is forging ahead in a strategic direction in agriculture, trade, education, climate security and science and technology.

The province, which stands as a tropical aisle with lush greenery along with hospitable people, is serving as a pivotal component in fostering development and is being built to be one of the most open and dynamic areas in China.

In China’s pursuit of modernisation with Chinese characteristics, reform and opening up have both taken the centre stage in accelerating the vision and this is where Hainan comes into play. Both the central and local administrations are assiduously working to transform the province into a trade free zone.

The Guyana Chronicle recently had the privilege of witnessing the breakthroughs that Hainan had been able to make in various sectors and its role in China’s modernisation plan.

The global economy faced setbacks owing to the shocking effects of COVID-19 on almost all of the sectors. Even in 2024, the economies of many countries remain stagnant as a result of the complex changes within the international arenas and the instability of the global industrial and supply chains.

However, as China beefed up its efforts to drive global modernisation, the economic powerhouse, under the leadership of President Xi Jinping is constantly opening up its markets and fostering partnerships with developing countries.

China’s vision of deepening reform while driving modernisation was placed into focus at the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), where the third plenary session convened in Beijing from July 15 to 18, 2024. It was during that session that the “Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively to Advance Chinese Modernisation,” was adopted.

It has been emphasised that opening up is a defining feature of Chinese modernisation and a modernised China can foster development opportunities for other countries.

Adding to this, after 46 years of reform and opening up, China now contributes over 30 per cent to global economic growth.

STRATEGIC MEASURES
Hainan’s development targets are further pushing the reform and opening up as by 2025, the province will put in place a Free Trade Port (FTP) policy framework which will place emphasis on the liberalisation and facilitation of trade and investment.

Also, by 2035, the FTP institutional systems and operational model will have matured, and the Hainan FTP will stand at the forefront of China’s open economy.

With economic security underpinned in its blueprint, China has also been advancing its “dual circulation” strategy.

Further, by fully leveraging its policy advantages as a FTP and its geographical advantages, Hainan is currently building the “Two Headquarters Bases”,”Two Hubs”, and “Two Networks”.

Additionally, the Hainan FTP will progressively create a tax structure that is in line with a high-level FTP by adhering to the guidelines of zero tariffs, low tax rates, a streamlined tax structure, and phased implementation.

Before 2025, enterprises of encouraged industries registered and engaged in substantial operations in the Hainan FTP are entitled to a lower corporate tax rate of 15 per cent.

High-caliber and urgently-needed professionals employed in the Hainan FTP are entitled to a 15 per cent cap on the personal income tax rate.
And, before 2035, enterprises (except those in sectors subject to negative list limits) registered and engaged in substantial operations in the Hainan FTP, are entitled to a reduced corporate tax rate of 15 per cent. Personal income tax will be levied progressively against three brackets of 3 per cent, 10 per cent and 15 per cent respectively.

Additionally, market access requirements for the Hainan FTP will be greatly relaxed and fair competition guaranteed to create an open, transparent, and predictable investment environment and further unleash the vitality of all market players.

Interestingly, over the previous five years, paid-in foreign investment in Hainan has grown at an average annual pace of 63.5 per cent.

GENERATING BREAKTHROUGHS

As Hainan continues to zero in on sustainable development, the province is simultaneously advancing within the sectors of agriculture, tourism, health and education.

As China’s largest “tropical treasury,” Hainan has the ideal elements to grow crops and the province has made full use of this.

In fact, rice can be harvested three times a year and vegetables grown all year round in Hainan.

Among the more than 4,000 kinds of plants found there, about 2,000 can be used as medicine, accounting for 40 per cent of the whole country’s variety of medicinal herbs and earning Hainan the crown as China’s “natural medicine storehouse”.

For Hainan, the prospects for agriculture are nothing short of promising even in the face of the global battle against food insecurity, which has been profoundly impacted by COVID-19 and other global events.

Even before the pandemic and its far-reaching impacts, China outlined the importance of agriculture and its connection to poverty elimination.
Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, solving problems related to agriculture, rural areas and rural people has been a top priority in the work of the whole party.

With uncertainty encompassing various corners of the globe, stability in the agriculture sector stands as a support mechanism to cope with the changes while striving for future development.

It is against this backdrop that China has been establishing a new agriculture dynamic, which possesses scientific and technological advancements.

China has demonstrated its commitment to finding long-term solutions to hunger, malnutrition, and poverty. This was made apparent during a recent visit to the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS), the sole Chinese research institute devoted to tropical agricultural technological advancements.

Rubber tree, tropical fruits, tropical vegetables, tropical biofuel crops, tropical spice and tropical medicinal crops, agricultural machinery, environment and plant protection, biotechnology, and development for tropical agriculture, as well as the development, monitoring, and testing of agro-product quality and safety standards are all areas of research that CATAS is actively involved in.

MODERNISING EDUCATION

China has recognised that a country’s human resources are vital when it comes to advancing development and, in the Hainan Province, the Lingshui Li’an International Education Innovation Pilot Zone is elevating education.

This publication also visited this Pilot Zone to see first-hand, how the central and local administrations are bolstering and transforming education.

The Pilot Zone has inked co-operation agreements with several domestic universities and international higher education institutions since its founding in 2020.

The Pilot Zone is also dedicated to bringing top-notch educational resources both domestically and internationally. It anticipates serving as a national showcase for innovation and developing educational practices and a major hub for international students travelling along the Belt and Road.