Hainan - In 2020, Hainan was entrusted with a new and historic mission to build a Free Trade Port (FTP) with Chinese characteristics. Are you also curious about what Hainan is like now?

"I think it will make Hainan even more unique than Hong Kong and Taiwan," said Jan Kerekes, who was both Canadian and Slovak. He chose to settle down in Hainan and run an international trading company. He also contributed significantly to the first exhibition in his native Slovakia. 

As one of China's windows to the outside world, Hainan has held five China International Consumer Products Expo (CICPE), one of the four major international exhibitions in China. This year, the UK was the guest of honor, and 4,100 brands from 71 countries and regions around the world participated. Exhibitors from the UK Pavilion and the Abu Dhabi Investment Group also looked positively forward to the Chinese economy and the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port.

Island-wide special customs operations are expected to be launched by the end of 2025. These operations will feature a two-tiered import-export administration system that allows the free flow of goods for international trade between Hainan and other countries and regions, while enforcing regular customs administration for trade with the Chinese mainland. This system will also ensure free production and operations within the island. This will significantly enhance Hainan FTP’s global trade and investment liberalization and facilitation levels in various fields, including culture, technology, consumption, education, healthcare, tourism, aerospace, and others.

Hainan Lingshui Li'an International Education Innovation Experimental Zone. (Photo/Dai Yuan)

What kind of experience does it feel like when you can leave the classroom and go to the beach to watch the sunrise and sunset? Li Ningrui, a student who moved here from Chengdu with the college, said: "Compared with the original campus, we not only share the same resources, but also have better dormitories and more advanced experimental equipment. I do enjoy studying here." After four years of study, he will obtain an undergraduate degree certificate recognized by both the University of Glasgow and the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China. This educational model is common in the Hainan Lingshui Li'an International Education Innovation Experimental Zone, which has signed contracts with 22 domestic and foreign universities. Currently, eight Sino-foreign cooperative education institutions (projects) have been approved by the Ministry of Education, with a total of 5,000 teachers and students.

Hainan Free Trade Port One-stop Aircraft Maintenance Industrial Base. (Photo/Deng Nan)

"We have customers from all over the world. The cost of aircraft maintenance here can save these enterprises 10%-15% of the cost," according to Wang Haiye, Director and General Manager of the One-stop Aircraft Maintenance Industrial Base of the Hainan FTP, which has secured 23 aviation maintenance certifications from aviation authorities across 18 countries and regions. The output value is projected to rise to 916 million yuan in 2025.

Hainan Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone. (Photo/Dai Yuan)

The Hainan Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone is the only "medical special zone" in the country. In recent years, due to special preferential policies, 36 medical institutions have established themselves here and formed partnerships with more than 180 pharmaceutical and medical device companies from 20 countries, including Merck, Sonova, Gilead, Novartis, and other world-leading pharmaceutical and medical device companies. In 2024, it served 413,700 medical tourists; as of March this year, 473 licensed drugs and medical devices have been used in the Lecheng Pilot Zone.

According to relevant officials, with the continuous advancement of the Hainan Free Trade Port's construction, the degree of openness to the outside world will continue to increase. It is conceivable that international cooperation will be further deepened in various fields.

（Zhang Yongle, as an intern, also contributed to the report.）