In 2020, Hainan newly established 1,005 foreign-invested enterprises, a year-on-year increase of nearly 2 times-


  foreign capital fell in love with Hainan Free Trade Port

  As the first free trade port in mainland China, Hainan Free Trade Port is becoming the "new favorite" of foreign capital.

  Last year, Hainan newly established 1,005 foreign-invested enterprises, a year-on-year increase of 197.3%. Well-known foreign companies such as Tesla, EDF, Kovosch, Hungarian Savings and Commercial Bank, and General Electric of the United States have settled in.

  Relevant persons pointed out that the free trade port is the world’s highest level of openness. Compared with other free trade ports in the world, the advantage of the Hainan Free Trade Port lies not only in being open to the world, but also in the support of the super-large domestic market behind it. The introduction of a series of high-level opening policy measures has been accelerated, and the attraction of Hainan Free Trade Port to foreign investment will be further enhanced.

The increase in investment attraction ranks first in the country

  After officially settled in Hainan Free Trade Port in October last year, Tesla has recently made new moves in Hainan: On January 15, Hainan’s first Tesla Center opened in Haikou. The center will provide consumers with consultation, delivery and After-sales and other services.

Five days later, Tesla put into use a new super charging station in Hainan.

  According to Xu Yao, sales manager of Tesla's Hainan region, Tesla will encrypt the construction of its own charging network facilities in Hainan, and improve the layout of super charging stations on the east, middle, and west lines of Hainan Island.

"Tesla plans to expand its sales network and after-sales network layout in Hainan, and provide fully direct integrated services."

  The layout of Hainan Free Trade Port is becoming a new choice for more and more foreign companies.

At the end of last year, the fourth batch of key projects of the Hainan Free Trade Port were signed, including 14 foreign-funded projects, involving aviation, culture and sports, international settlement, financial technology and other fields.

As one of them, General Electric (China) Co., Ltd. signed an agreement with Hainan Province, clarifying that the two parties will deepen cooperation in aviation, medical care, clean energy, and digitalization in the next five years.

Among them, in aviation, GE will provide authorization for the engine overhaul plant invested by Hainan Airlines in Haikou to help it build GEnx-1B engine maintenance capabilities.

  Xiang Weiming, President and CEO of General Electric (GE) China, said that this cooperation is another milestone for GE China to continue to promote the three major strategies of "localization 2.0, strategic partnership, and global connection".

Based on the strategic cooperation framework reached by the two parties, GE will seize the opportunities brought by China's continued opening up, leverage GE's industry technical expertise and operating experience, and deeply participate in the process of building a world-class free trade port in Hainan Province.

  Tesla and General Electric are a microcosm.

A few days ago, Hainan announced the report card of attracting foreign investment last year: In 2020, Hainan newly established 1,005 foreign-invested enterprises, a year-on-year increase of 197.3%; the actual use of foreign capital throughout the year was US$3.03 billion, a year-on-year increase of 100.7%; countries and regions that invest in Hainan Province Relevant foreign-funded enterprises covered G20 member countries; the number of newly established foreign-funded enterprises in the modern service industry accounted for about 90% of the total number of newly established foreign-funded enterprises in the year, and the actual use of foreign capital accounted for about 80% of the total.

  “In the past, most of Hainan’s economic indicators ranked low in the country. However, Hainan’s increase in attracting foreign investment in 2020 can definitely rank among the first echelon in the country.” said Shen Danyang, deputy governor of Hainan Province. The reasons for this are obvious: The free trade port is attractive and dazzling.

The global ranking of business environment has risen significantly

  Why does foreign capital overweight Hainan Free Trade Port?

The unique advantage of the high-level opening policy is a key factor that many foreign companies have fancyed here.

  Last October, the Hungarian Savings Commercial Bank settled in Sanya, Hainan.

Ni Huanjun, chief representative of the company's Beijing representative office, said that the Hainan Free Trade Port's financial, taxation and talent policies have facilitated foreign banks' access to the Chinese mainland market.

He revealed that the company plans to establish a consumer finance company in Hainan in the early stage, and in the mid- to long-term plan to set up its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Hainan.

  On June 1, 2020, the "Overall Plan for the Construction of Hainan Free Trade Port" was released, marking Hainan’s transition from the construction of a pilot free trade zone to the construction of a free trade port.

Since the release of the overall plan, a series of policies and measures have been intensively introduced: implement the Hainan Free Trade Port’s corporate income tax and high-end scarce talent personal income tax rate of up to 15% preferential tax rates, accelerate the implementation of core policies such as zero tariffs and low tax rates; establish the Hainan Free Trade Port Financial Development Center , To assist in the development of financial investment services and promotion, free trade port financial research, government-bank-enterprise docking, international financial exchanges and cooperation; the 2020 version of the Hainan Free Trade Port’s negative list of foreign investment access was released, and the entries were reduced to 27; around new energy vehicles More than 30 supporting policies have been issued in various links such as purchase, parking, and travel to speed up the construction of the province's charging/replacement infrastructure and attract leading global new energy vehicle manufacturers to land.

  Tao Lin, vice president of Tesla, said that Hainan's policies to promote the development of the new energy vehicle industry set many clear goals.

These clear policies and goals not only bring opportunities to new energy vehicle companies including Tesla, but also stimulate and signal the entire industry, which strengthens Tesla's confidence in increasing investment in China.

  "We are optimistic about the development opportunities of Hainan in terms of advanced technology and low-carbon economy." said Fu Kaide, vice president of EDF and president of China.

Currently, the group is cooperating with its partners in the construction of clean energy and new energy vehicle infrastructure in Hainan.

  The policy is good and the business environment is continuously optimized.

A few days ago, the “Single Window” of the Hainan Free Trade Port’s talent service was put into operation, and 47 talent business projects were sorted out and integrated. Enterprises and individuals can do things quickly and quickly in any “single window”, and some matters can be approved and handled immediately.

In addition, "single windows" such as administrative approval, international investment, and international trade have also been established, and the time limit for approval has been reduced by 70 to 80%.

According to calculations by a third-party appraisal agency in accordance with the World Bank's evaluation index system, in 2020, Hainan's ranking for business startups rose to 7th, and the ranking of registered assets rose to 22nd.

  Lawson, a world-renowned franchise chain convenience store, settled in Hainan last year. It only took more than two months from the authorization of Hainan Qingzi Industrial Co., Ltd. to the opening of the first batch of five Lawson convenience stores in Haikou.

"We obviously feel the good business environment in Hainan." Tang Yaohua, general manager of Qingzi Industrial Co., Ltd. said that Lawson has developed very smoothly in Hainan. This year, it will make full use of the advantages of Hainan Free Trade Port policy and actively develop convenience stores in Haikou and Sanya. Market, plans to open more than 100 stores in Hainan.

More initiatives and results are worth looking forward to

  To promote the construction of Hainan Free Trade Port, there is more to look forward to.

On February 1, the 2020 version of the Hainan Free Trade Port’s negative list was officially implemented, removing restrictions on foreign investment in online data processing and transaction processing businesses, and allowing high-level universities and vocational colleges in the Hainan Free Trade Port to independently run schools in the Hainan Free Trade Port. Allow foreign investors to invest in some non-litigation legal affairs involving Hainan commercial affairs, and support the opening of the Hainan Free Trade Port automobile industry first...

  "This year, we will also formulate special measures to relax market access for the Hainan Free Trade Port." said Zhao Chenxin, secretary general of the National Development and Reform Commission.

In addition, the National Development and Reform Commission has made it clear that it will continue to reduce the negative list of Hainan Free Trade Port and gradually realize the free and convenient investment of Hainan Free Trade Port.

  Zhang Jianping, deputy director of the Academic Committee of the Academy of the Ministry of Commerce and director of the Regional Economic Research Center, believes that further relaxation of market access can attract more foreign capital into the Hainan Free Trade Port and promote the agglomeration of high value-added industries.

In the future, Hainan Free Trade Port should also fully learn from the experience of international free trade ports, accelerate the formation of internationally competitive open policies and systems, and create a more attractive investment and business environment.

  Gao Feng, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce, introduced that at present, the Ministry of Commerce is working with Hainan Province and relevant departments to actively promote the work on the negative list of cross-border service trade in Hainan Free Trade Port.

The cross-border service trade negative list of the Hainan Free Trade Port will be China’s first negative list in the field of cross-border service trade. It will further expand market access in the service trade field, help the Hainan Free Trade Port to open up to a higher level, and establish a sound foundation for China It is worth looking forward to exploring the path and accumulating experience of the negative list management system for cross-border trade in services.

  More results will also accelerate the implementation.

Shen Xiaoming, Secretary of the Hainan Provincial Party Committee, introduced that China’s first overseas science, engineering, agricultural and medical high-level university independent school project-Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences in Germany has signed a contract to land in Yangpu, and the Swiss Lausanne School of Hotel Management has signed a contract to settle in Sanya. The independent school-running projects of the two overseas universities are accelerating according to the enrollment target of this September.

  Korea Baoaopuler Biotechnology Co., Ltd. has entered the Hainan Free Trade Port for nearly two months. The company’s general manager of China, Park Yongxin, said that the company will settle in a processing plant in Jiangdong New District, Haikou, mainly for hyaluronic acid, anti-adhesives, and cystitis treatment machines. The processing of semi-finished products such as arthritis treatment machines, private customized skin care products, etc., and the processed products will be sold to more than 70 countries in the future.

"We will leverage the dividends from the development of the Free Trade Port to accelerate the implementation of the project."

  Qiu Haifeng