President Xi Jinping on Thursday urged adopting high standards for building the Hainan Free Trade Port to make it a key gateway for China’s opening-up in the new era.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks when hearing a work report in Sanya in the island province of Hainan on the building of the Hainan FTP.

He said that building the Hainan FTP is a major policy of the CPC Central Committee to comprehensively deepen reform and opening-up in the new era. He urged relevant authorities to promote close coordination, take proactive actions and make sustained efforts to achieve the targets for the development of the Hainan FTP in all respects.

Xi’s remarks came as the Hainan FTP is set to officially launch island-wide independent customs operation on Dec 18, a landmark move by China to unwaveringly expand high-standard opening-up and promote the development of an open world economy.

Once the independent customs operation begins, more imported products in Hainan will enjoy a zero-tariff policy. The number of duty-free items on the island will increase from 1,900 currently to around 6,600, marking a significant boost in openness, according to the Ministry of Finance.

Xi emphasized that the strategic goal of building the Hainan FTP is to establish it as a key gateway for China’s opening-up in the new era.

To achieve the goal, efforts must be made to fully carry out the master plan for the construction of the FTP, implement the law on Hainan Free Trade Port, and establish an institutional framework that aligns with a high-standard free trade port in a phased and step-by-step manner, he said.

He called for steadily expanding institutional opening-up and further improving trade and investment liberalization and facilitation.

While noting the importance of promoting the cross-border flow of the factors of production and building a more open mechanism for talent development, Xi underlined the need to deepen administrative reform and optimize government services in order to foster a world-class, market-oriented business environment governed by a sound legal framework.

He also highlighted the need to coordinate development and security, saying that it is necessary to scientifically and orderly manage the pace and progress of opening-up, enhance risk mitigation and prevention, and proceed steadily and prudently.

In April 2018, China announced the decision to develop Hainan into a pilot free trade zone while gradually exploring and steadily promoting the establishment of an FTP with Chinese characteristics. In June 2020, a master plan was unveiled to build the island into a globally influential and high-standard FTP by the middle of the century.

Over the past five years, Hainan’s foreign direct investment has recorded an average annual growth rate of 14.6 percent, while its goods and services trade have expanded by 31.3 percent and 32.3 percent annually, respectively, according to Hainan authorities. Its offshore duty-free sales have grown rapidly, accounting for over 8 percent of the global duty-free market.

Chi Fulin, president of the China Institute for Reform and Development, said that Hainan is located at the center of the region covering the countries involved in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the largest free trade agreement in the world, and serves as China’s forefront toward the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

China’s decision to develop a free trade port in Hainan is a strategic move to proactively adapt to the trend of regional economic integration and seize the initiative for future development, Chi said.

He noted that the successful experience of free trade ports in Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong reveals that the combination of “geographical advantage plus high-level openness” is fundamental to their role as important gateways for opening-up.

Drawing from their experience, Hainan should proactively align itself with regional economic integration in Asia, and leverage the policies of high-standard opening-up and its geographical position to enhance its role as a hub in the region, Chi said.

At Thursday’s meeting, Xi also said the primary purpose of building a high-standard Hainan FTP is to promote high-quality development in Hainan and make contributions to the country’s overall efforts in fostering a new development paradigm.

He urged Hainan to strengthen coordinated development with the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, deepen collaboration with the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and deeply integrate itself into Belt and Road cooperation, and play a leading role in advancing high-standard opening-up.