What does the future hold for China's free trade port?

CGTN | Updated: 2020-04-16

Before the coronavirus hit China in January – and then the whole world – Hainan's tourism witnessed a healthy growth. About 83 million trips were made to the island in 2019, which increased by 9 percent, according to Hainan Provincial Department of Tourism and Culture, Radio, Film and Sports. The number of foreign visitors stood at slightly over 1.4 million, witnessing an increase of 11 percent.

However, when compared with Indonesia, where tourism is one of the major pillars of the economy, the number of Hainan's foreign visitors is dwarfed. Figures show that a total of 16.1 million foreign tourists visited Indonesia throughout 2019, according to Statistics Indonesia. The target for Hainan in 2020 is 2 million foreign visitors, which is highly likely to be frustrated by the coronavirus pandemic.

"Some tourists are choosing to travel abroad, because they think Sanya is more expensive compared to other countries," said a shop owner in Sanya, who sells coconut for a living. She said the number of visitors has seen a slight decline over the past two years.

"Tourist destinations, such as Singapore and Thailand, have better tourism facilities. We can learn from them," said a local resident.

Now Hainan is making an effort to boost tourism by expanding duty-free shopping, promoting medical tourism and sports tourism.

"There will be some preferential policies in terms of offshore duty-free shopping so that both local residents and tourists can enjoy the benefits of free trade port construction," said Liu Cheng, deputy director of Hainan Provincial Department of Tourism and Culture, Radio, Film and Sports. "We'll work to strengthen the integration of tourism with other sectors, especially medical tourism, which will be our next target."

Hainan medical tourism

Tucked away in a small town called Boao, Hainan's medical tourism is burgeoning. The Hainan Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone was the first of its kind approved by the central government in 2013.

Enjoying a set of preferential policies, the pilot zone – more like a small city – is granted special permission to import medical equipment and medications which have not yet been approved for the Chinese market.

"As for the imported equipment, if we have to pay high taxes, the expenses will be transferred to our customers. The pilot zone lowers taxation, so our services can be cheaper than our counterparts internationally," said Liu Weifu, executive officer of Yiling Hospital Management Group.