{"id":12245,"date":"2023-05-10T06:30:38","date_gmt":"2023-05-10T06:30:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/?p=12245"},"modified":"2025-04-23T09:31:32","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T09:31:32","slug":"why-hainan-should-be-on-your-companys-radar-in-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/why-hainan-should-be-on-your-companys-radar-in-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Hainan should be on your company\u2019s radar in 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"

Renowned for its golden sandy beaches and tropical climate, today, the \u201cHawaii of China\u201d is generating headlines for its business-friendly environment \u2013 and some of the world\u2019s biggest companies are taking note\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Hainan\u2019s location in the warm waters of the South China Sea have long made it a haven for fishing and agriculture and, in more recent years, tourism, but in the early 2020s, a series of beneficial import and trade policies began to put it on the radar of companies looking to grow their business in China.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this article, we review some of the main reasons why Hainan has become such a hotspot and why consumer companies in particular should be thinking seriously about their footprint in the province.<\/p>\n

CBBC and our expert panelists will also discuss the Hainan opportunity in more detail during day one of CBBC’s China Consumer conference 2023<\/a> on 4 July.<\/p>\n

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Hainan in a nutshell<\/h4>\n

Hainan is the smallest and most southern province in China. Made up of many small islands in the South China Sea, the largest, Hainan Island itself, accounts for 97% of the landmass. The province has 10 major cities and 10 counties, of which Haikou and Sanya are the largest.<\/p>\n

Hainan\u2019s economy was traditionally dominated by primary industry, with fishing and tropical cash crops (e.g., rubber, coconuts, palm oil, and fruit) contributing significantly to provincial GDP, but the tertiary sector has developed rapidly in recent years, accounting for 61.5% of the economy in 2021. The province has a history of economic liberalisation, especially during the Deng Xiaoping era, and has been a special economic zone (SEZ) since 1988.<\/p>\n

Incentives to invest and manufacture in Hainan abound<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The Chinese government released the Overall Plan for the Construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port<\/a> (FTP) in June 2020, with the aim of liberalising investment procedures, reducing tariffs across a range of products and industries and improving customs clearance procedures.<\/p>\n

As Dezan Shira\u2019s China Briefing<\/a> explains, the goal of Hainan\u2019s FTP policies is to set up a \u201cfirst line\u201d to overseas countries and regions and a \u201csecond line\u201d to the Chinese mainland. In regards to the \u201cfirst line\u201d, goods, except those on List of Goods and Articles Prohibited or Restricted from Import and Export at Hainan FTP<\/em>, can be freely imported and exported between overseas regions and Hainan FTP under customs\u2019 special supervision. The \u201csecond line\u201d will be more tightly controlled \u2013 goods entering the Chinese mainland from Hainan will go through procedures in accordance with relevant import regulations, customs duties and taxes.<\/p>\n

Enterprises registered in the Hainan FTP can also enjoy three major corporate tax relaxations:<\/p>\n