Hainan FTP to speed customs clearance prep

Hainan will accelerate preparation work for customs clearances on Hainan Island in 2022, focusing on projects that optimize the layout of ports and the operation of comprehensive law enforcement stations in non-customs areas, the provincial government said.

China released a master plan for the construction of Hainan Free Trade Port in June 2020, aiming to build Hainan Island, which is about 32 times the size of Hong Kong, into a globally influential free trade port by the middle of the century.

As a further move by the nation to open wider to the world, the master plan says Hainan should be prepared for customs clearance operations before 2025.

Hainan implemented more than 150 FTP construction policies last year, and drafting of a preparatory work list and promotion plan for customs closure operation have been completed, according to the government work report addressed to the Fifth Session of the Sixth People's Congress of Hainan, which concluded on Monday in Haikou.

It said efforts will be made this year to promote building of a multifunctional free trade account system, drawing up measures for the management of goods entering and leaving the island and deepening research on tax reform.

This year, Hainan will put into practice more FTP-related policies. Priority will be given to the development of a number of projects, including an e-prescription center and an international trading center for cultural relics and works of art, the work report said.

It added that the Hainan FTP will carry out high-level opening-up stress tests to benchmark high-standard international economic and trade rules.