Chongqing - Chongqing and Hainan are deepening cooperation under China’s push for higher-level opening-up, combining Hainan Free Trade Port policies with the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor (ILSTC) to unlock new opportunities for businesses in western China, officials said at a May 15 press conference in Chongqing.

Aerial view of Haikou, the capital city of Hainan Province. (Photo/Feng Shuo)

Hainan Free Trade Port launched full-island customs operations on December 18, 2025. Wang Bin, member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Hainan Provincial Committee, said the initiative has advanced with policy implementation and measurable outcomes. 

He highlighted Hainan’s zero-tariff policies, duty exemptions for processing and value-added goods, and simplified customs procedures. From Dec. 18, 2025, to Apr. 30, 2026, zero-tariff imports reached 2.26 billion yuan (about 333 million U.S. dollars), up 99.6 percent year on year, while domestic sales under related exemption policies totaled 510 million yuan, cutting taxes by 24.57 million yuan.

Fresh tropical fruits from Hainan are displayed during the press conference in Chongqing on May 15 (Photo/Zheng Ran)

Hainan’s eight international ports have cut average customs clearance times by 28 percent, while 10 secondary ports simplified declarations for low-risk cargo by more than 60 percent, enabling near-instant processing. More than 100,000 trading firms now operate under a credit-based customs system that allows compliant businesses seamless clearance.

Handicrafts from Hainan Province are displayed at the press conference in Chongqing on May 15. (Photo/Zheng Ran)

Chongqing and Hainan are leveraging their complementary industrial strengths through the ILSTC, a logistics channel linking inland China to maritime trade routes. 

Zhang Huawei, executive deputy director of the Yangpu Economic Development Zone, said Yangpu port has upgraded its infrastructure, including two 200,000-ton and one 150,000-ton container berths, capable of accommodating the world's largest 24,000-TEU container ships. 

In 2025, Yangpu handled more than 3.3 million TEUs, a 65% increase from the previous year, and first-quarter 2026 throughput rose 94.4%, the fastest among major Chinese ports.

Busy container handling at Yangpu International Container Terminal. (Photo/Chen Yuancai)

Yangpu's network now includes 66 container liner routes, with 36 serving foreign trade destinations across Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and both U.S. coasts. 

Zhang said cargo from Chongqing and other western Chinese cities can now move through Yangpu under a “single-order” multimodal transport system, reducing transit times to under five days. Regular services are already running on routes such as Chongqing–Qinzhou–Yangpu, with further plans to expand sea-rail and sea-land transshipment links and streamline port procedures under free trade policies.

Officials emphasized that Chongqing enterprises can take advantage of Hainan's preferential policies to explore new business models. Zeng Rong, chief economist at Hainan Provincial Bureau of International Economic Development, said, "Chongqing companies can combine local R&D and manufacturing with Hainan's bonded and export-oriented platforms to reach global markets efficiently." 

Opportunities span advanced manufacturing, value-added processing, global supply chain operations, tourism and retail, and cross-border finance. Chongqing equipment manufacturing, new materials, and food processing firms can establish processing bases and bonded repair facilities in Hainan, utilizing duty exemptions on raw materials and equipment.

Tang Weidong, an official from the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Commerce, noted that corridor-linked industrial cooperation has transformed the region from a pilot testing ground into a main engine for regional trade. 

He said future cooperation will focus on platform coordination, service and consumption expansion, and regulatory innovation to maximize the corridor's contribution to national-level opening-up.