A view of the Hainan Free Trade Zone in October Photo: VCG

Thanks to the master plan for the Hainan free trade port issued by the central government on June 1, South China's Hainan Province is attracting the attention of businesses around the world with a growing number of foreign companies flocking to register there.

A total of 2,047 foreign companies were registered in South China's Hainan Province from January to August, skyrocketing 290 percent year on year, demonstrating how enterprises around the world are attracted to the new free trade port, according to a report by Hainan Daily, citing Haikou customs.

Data shows 1,524 foreign companies have been registered in Hainan since the plan to build the Hainan free trade port was announced on June 1, accounting for 74.5 percent of total foreign companies registered in the first eight months of this year - 270 in June, 683 in July and 571 in August. 

Haikou customs also reported a total of 5.58 billion yuan ($816.46 million) in offshore duty-free business during July and August - the time when the offshore duty-free policy came into effect, surging 221.9 percent from a year ago, according to a report by CCTV. 

Over the same period, the free trade island attracted 832,000 trips, up 54.8 percent year-on-year, with the purchase of 6.12 million free tax products, surging 147.3 percent year-on-year, the report added, demonstrating the benefits gained due to the strengthening of opening-up policies.

Faced with the potential for a prosperous future, Hainan is expected to expand investments to build China's largest free trade port. The province plans to develop the third round of 151 projects with total investments of 40.3 billion yuan, according to a report by the People's Daily.

According to the central government's plan, a free trade port system focusing on trade and investment liberalization and facilitation will be "basically established" in Hainan by 2025, which  will become "more mature" by 2035. 

Global Times