Beijing, December 18 (Xinhua) -- A new answer to China's high-level opening-up - looking at China's institutional opening-up from the closure of Hainan Free Trade Port

Xinhua News Agency reporter Su Liang

The wind comes from the sea, sails sail towards the world.

Hainan Free Trade Port launched the island wide closure operation on the 18th. This is a landmark measure of China's unwavering commitment to expanding high-level opening-up and promoting the construction of an open world economy. After the closure, Hainan will become a special area for customs supervision, implementing a policy system of liberalization and facilitation characterized by "opening up the 'first line', controlling the 'second line', and allowing freedom within the island".

Openness is an important driving force for the progress of human civilization and a necessary path for the prosperity and development of the world. International figures have stated that the operation of the Hainan Free Trade Port's customs clearance fully demonstrates China's determination to continuously expand and improve its level of opening-up to the outside world, and has delivered a new answer to the high-level opening-up.

This is a photo of Yangpu Port in Hainan taken on November 28, 2025. This port is one of the 10 "second tier ports" of Hainan Free Trade Port (drone photo). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Guo Cheng

Building an open new highland

Ports are nodes connecting the world and windows for open cooperation. For thousands of years, with the extension of shipping routes and the distribution of goods, the development of ports has linked the historical process of human trade and global industrial cooperation. Since 2018, relying on the advantages of a super large domestic market and actively connecting with international high standard economic and trade rules, the construction of Hainan Free Trade Port has steadily advanced and accelerated, attracting more and more domestic and foreign enterprises to invest and layout, and continuously releasing new momentum for open development.

In November of this year, a Canadian company with a production base in Hainan launched chocolate that incorporates Hainan's unique ingredients and landmarks, which attracted much attention at the 8th China International Import Expo. Four years ago, this enterprise chose to root and develop here precisely because it valued the systematic and sustainable policies of Hainan Free Trade Port.

In the opinion of Weng Zhongyi, executive director of the Asia Pacific "the Belt and Road" Joint Policy Committee, a Malaysian think tank, and representative of Hainan Free Trade Port Research Institute in ASEAN, the story of this chocolate manufacturer is very representative. More and more enterprises are recognizing the advantages of Hainan Free Trade Port, such as low settlement costs and high level of institutional openness, and are using policies such as preferential taxation and duty-free processing value-added to enter the Chinese market.

Weng Zhongyi pointed out that the construction of Hainan Free Trade Port provides favorable conditions for ASEAN enterprises to enter the Chinese market, attracting ASEAN enterprises to make Hainan their "first stop" for entering China.

Alan Glenn, the chairman of the Scottish Passenger Transport Agents Association in the UK, believes that with the closure of the Hainan Free Trade Port, the abundant duty-free shopping options will become a new reason for global tourists to use Hainan as a vacation destination, and "Hainan Tour" is expected to become a global tourism hot spot.

Jack Perry, the chairman of the 48th Group in the UK, told Xinhua News Agency that in recent years, he has witnessed Hainan grow from a tourist destination to a free trade port with unique advantages. He stated that the island wide closure of Hainan Free Trade Port means building a bridge between the global market and China's huge domestic demand, making the import and export of goods more convenient, and facilitating the expansion of new business models more smoothly.

Key Park of Hainan Free Trade Port - Sanya Central Business District (taken on November 1, 2025, drone photo). Xinhua News Agency reporter Pu Xiaoxu

Show more certainty

Openness is a distinctive symbol of contemporary China. The sealing operation of Hainan Free Trade Port once again proves to the world that China continues to promote trade facilitation, investment liberalization, and efficient flow of factors, and resolutely advances high-level opening up to the outside world.

Warwick Smith, Chairman of the Global Cooperation Committee of the Australian Business Council, often attends the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference held in Hainan and is very familiar with the development history of Hainan.

When it comes to the operation of closing the Hainan Free Trade Port, Shi Weili used the word 'breakthrough'. He said that Hainan Free Trade Port benchmarks the world's high-level open form, provides regulatory transparency and compliance thresholds for international enterprises, and gives market participants more certainty, which is of great significance for industrial development.

Sergei Tonger, an economist and financial analyst from Türkiye, believes that the attraction of Hainan Free Trade Port lies in its superior geographical location, the strength of preferential policies, and more importantly, its stable and clear institutional guarantee.

Tongjie said that investors value "predictability" the most, and global companies are optimistic about the Hainan Free Trade Port and hope to settle and develop here. It is precisely because the construction process of the Free Trade Port clearly shows that preferential tariff rates and multiple measures of opening-up mechanisms will be implemented step by step according to the plan, and institutional opening-up is steadily advancing.

More clear and predictable! "Said Ang Rooney, CEO of the World Free Zone Organization. Hainan Free Trade Port is becoming a" testing ground "for global high standard trade rules, efficient customs models, and a good business environment. Its accumulated experience in development and construction will also promote China's institutional opening-up to take new steps forward.

This is the key park of Hainan Free Trade Port - Haikou Fuxing City Internet Information Industrial Park (UAV photo) taken on November 13, 2025. Photo by Pu Xiaoxu, Xinhua News Agency reporter

Contribute more stability

Since the new era, China has implemented a more proactive opening-up strategy, steadily advancing institutional opening-up through the construction of free trade pilot zones and Hainan Free Trade Port, building a network of high standard free trade zones, and hosting exhibitions such as the China International Import Expo.

These institutional opening-up measures not only allow China to continuously unleash its own development momentum, but also inject certainty and vitality into the world economy, which is a concrete manifestation of China's promotion of building an open world economy and constructing a community with a shared future for mankind.

Ivona Rajvac, Deputy Director of the Serbian Institute of International Political Economy, has visited China more than 30 times and witnessed China's development and changes. What impressed her the most was that Shenzhen, as a landmark of the reform and opening up era, developed into a modern international city in just a few decades. Nowadays, Hainan Free Trade Port also has such potential

Rajewac said that the sealing operation of Hainan Free Trade Port is the latest example of China's institutional opening-up. China's insistence on high-level opening up to the outside world reflects the continuity and firmness of economic development and governance concepts. She told reporters that by establishing new open mechanisms to attract domestic and foreign investment and stimulate market vitality, this development wisdom is worth learning from by countries around the world.

The institutional opening-up of Hainan Free Trade Port and Pilot Free Trade Zone has steadily advanced, accumulating a large number of institutional innovation achievements, effectively exerting the "leading goose effect" of institutional innovation, and driving China's high-level opening-up to the outside world to continue to expand.

Ahmed Hosseini, an expert on Chinese affairs in Egypt and a researcher at the School of African Studies at Cairo University, stated that China's insistence on expanding high-level opening-up to the outside world has provided more new channels for enterprises from various countries to enter the Chinese market, lowered market access barriers, and helped to link and interdependence the industrial and supply chains more closely, which is of great significance for promoting world economic recovery.

Opening up to the world is not only in line with China's interests, but also in line with the interests of the world, "said Croatian economist and former Minister of Economy Liubo Jurcic. As the world's second-largest economy, China has steadily promoted institutional opening up, continuously demonstrating its determination to uphold multilateralism and maintain the multilateral trading system, and demonstrating China's vision of mutual benefit, win-win cooperation, and common development with the world.

Editor: Jiang Yani