Aerial photo taken on Dec. 5, 2021 shows the sunrise scenery of the Yangpu international container port at Yangpu economic development zone in south China's Hainan Province.Photo:Xinhua

Chinese President Xi Jinping inspected an economic development zone in South China's Hainan Province on Tuesday, as China's largest free trade port (FTP) celebrates its 4th anniversary.

During the inspection in the Yangpu economic development zone in Danzhou, President Xi visited an exhibition hall and a container terminal, where he learned about the zone's development and the building of the free trade port with Chinese characteristics.

China has been navigating high-level opening-up as part of operating the FTP. In April 2018, the central government announced a series of measures to support the island in building a pilot free trade zone, and supports Hainan to steadily advance the construction of a free trade port.

Over the past four years, Hainan has pursued institutional and technological innovations to lay the groundwork for a sound business environment forming one of Hainan's new competitive leverages. 

Local data showed that the island has attracted over 420,000 skilled workers since April 2018, while R&D investment grew by an average of 19.8 percent year-on-year, the local planning and reform department said at a press briefing on Wednesday.

Local authorities have also ramped up efforts in promoting the island to become an international consumption center. In 2021, offshore duty-free sales in the island reached 50.49 billion yuan ($7.93 billion), an increase of 83 percent year-on-year, and the number of shoppers totaled nearly 9.7 million, up 73 percent year-on-year.

An official with the Department of Finance of Hainan Province said at the same conference on Wednesday that a total of 11 favorable tax policies have been implemented to complement the FTP.

Local authorities in Hainan are working toward establishing an island-wide customs clearance mechanism, while gradually setting up a tax regime for promoting liberalization and facilitation of free trade and investment, the official said.

Hainan has seen robust growth in both foreign investment inflow and foreign trade over recent years.

Total foreign investment into the island, in actual use, amounted to $3.5 billion in 2021, up 16.2 percent year-on-year, according to the provincial department of commerce. In addition, the total value of Hainan's imports and exports reached 147.7 billion yuan ($23.2 billion) in 2021, up 57.7 percent year-on-year.

As a result of the construction of the FTP, Haikou, Hainan's capital city, inked 36 projects with a total planned investment of over 13 billion yuan on Monday, the first round of large-scale projects announced in 2022.

Hainan also announced 21 pharmaceuticals projects with a total planned investment of 6.6 billion yuan as the Hainan FTP focuses on cultivating and developing an advanced medicine-making industry.