China to open its door wider to world

Calling the Hainan Free Trade Port a hallmark of China's reform and opening-up in the new era, foreign envoys to Beijing on Wednesday expressed their belief that China's efforts in this regard will bring abundant opportunities to the world.

Addressing a promotional event for South China's Hainan province, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the Hainan FTP has become a new frontier of China's institutional openingup, a new hotbed of mutual beneficial regional cooperation, and a new engine driving economic globalization.

He pledged that China's door to the outside world will open wider, emphasizing that choosing China is choosing opportunities, while embracing China is embracing the future.

The Hainan FTP, which began construction in 2018, enjoys the highest degree of openness and the most favorable policies in China, covering the widest geographical areas. Hainan is the southernmost province of China and is at the forefront of China's reform and opening-up efforts.

Feng Fei, secretary of the Communist Party of China Hainan provincial committee, said the Hainan FTP, boasting China's most favorable tax policies, the shortest negative list for foreign investment access and most liberal entry policy, holds significant importance for the world.

"The Hainan FTP is constructing a new paradigm for China's opening-up towards, and integration with, countries and regions along the Belt and Road and from the Global South, contributing more to economic globalization and to the building of a community with a shared future for mankind," he said.

"The Hainan FTP serves as an important demonstration of China's commitment to reform and opening-up, as well as China's vision for high-quality development," Singaporean Ambassador to China Peter Tan said, lauding innovative policy measures taken by Hainan as bold and forward-looking.

Given Hainan's geographical and cultural proximity to Southeast Asia, the Hainan FTP is positioned as a "useful vehicle" to strengthen China's cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, China's largest trading partner, he said.

Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to China Hussain bin Ibrahim Al Hammadi described the Hainan FTP as a successful example of Chinese modernization, noting that it has made remarkable progress over the past six years.

He mentioned that Hainan has formulated and implemented over 200 policy documents, introduced three zero-tariff lists and raised the personal duty-free shopping limit to 100,000 yuan ($13,756).

With both the UAE and China committed to a shared vision of innovation-driven and sustainable development, the ambassador said the UAE and Hainan have signed a number of agreements to strengthen cooperation in logistics, technology and other areas.

Calling the Hainan FTP a manifestation of China's advocacy for free trade, Swiss Ambassador to China Jurg Burri said the free trade agreement between the two countries, which came into effect in 2014, has brought positive results for both sides.

In September, China and Switzerland officially launched negotiations for upgrading their free trade agreement.