HAIKOU, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Business activity in China's Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP) picked up in the first month of island-wide special customs operations, with surging company registrations, rising trade volumes and stronger duty-free sales, according to a press conference on Monday.
A total of 21,000 new companies were registered during the period, representing a 16.42 percent year-on-year increase. Among them were 331 foreign-funded firms -- up 13 percent from the previous year, underscoring rising market vitality and investor confidence.
The policy dividends generated by the special customs operations are already being translated into concrete benefits for market entities both at home and abroad, said Cui Weijie, deputy director of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, a think tank with the Ministry of Commerce.
"Chinese enterprises can leverage the Hainan FTP to access global markets more conveniently, while foreign companies can use Hainan as a bridgehead to enter the mainland market," he said.
China launched island-wide special customs operations in the Hainan FTP on Dec. 18. The policy features "freer access at the first line" for trade between Hainan and areas outside China's customs borders, and "regulated access at the second line," where standard customs rules apply to goods moving from Hainan to the mainland.
In the first month of the new customs arrangement, the total value of "first line" imported zero-tariff goods rose 38.9 percent year on year to 753 million yuan (about 108 million U.S. dollars), while tax reductions surged 194.6 percent to 109 million yuan, according to the press conference.
The value of processed and value-added goods sold domestically through the "second line" rose 37.2 percent, involving goods totaling nearly 85.87 million yuan, with tariff reductions coming in at 3.32 million yuan, it said.
At the operational level, companies say the new rules are translating into concrete cost savings.
Located in the Yangpu Economic Development Zone -- a front-runner in the implementation of the Hainan FTP's preferential policies, including tariff reductions and exemptions -- Hainan Hongyan Food Co., Ltd. mainly imports beef from overseas, processes it into jerky products and sells them to the mainland market duty-free.
Over the past two years, the company has saved more than 3 million yuan in taxes, said Liu Heping, its chairman. "The policy has reduced our production costs and will also open new opportunities to expand into Southeast Asian markets," he said.
Alongside domestic firms, foreign investors are also expanding their presence. On the first day of Hainan's island-wide special customs operations, Siemens Energy (Hainan) Co., Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Fortune Global 500 company Siemens Energy, was officially established in Yangpu, marking the company's first gas turbine assembly and service center in China.
Lars Voelker, general manager of Siemens Energy (Hainan) Co., Ltd., said that strong government support enabled the project to move forward in a very short time, laying a solid foundation for future development.
To facilitate such investment, local authorities have introduced a package of measures aimed at easing market entry. These include simplified documentation requirements, expanded verification methods and one-stop registration services, said Zhu Mengwen, who works in the market regulation administration in Danzhou, where Yangpu is located.
Beyond trade and investment, eased cross-border movement and duty-free shopping policies have also boosted consumption. Official data shows that duty-free sales supervised by customs totaled 4.86 billion yuan in the first month of Hainan's new customs environment, rising 46.8 percent year on year.
Experts say the developments in the Hainan FTP reflect a broader national push to expand institutional opening-up. Recommendations for the formulation of China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) for national economic and social development have called for continuing to expand opening-up at the institutional level, safeguarding the multilateral trading system, and promoting broader international economic flows.
"The Hainan FTP not only demonstrates China's unwavering commitment to high-standard opening up, but also injects greater certainty and positive momentum into the global economy and international trade cooperation," Cui said.
Guan Jirong, a provincial official, noted that 2026 marks the opening year of both China's 15th Five-Year Plan period and the island-wide implementation of special customs operations in the Hainan FTP.
He said that Hainan will use this year as a new starting point to accelerate its development as an FTP and work to build it into a leading gateway for China's opening up in the new era. ■
