On December 18, 2025, China launched island-wide special customs operations(ISCO) in the Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP), calling “fēng guān yùn zuò” of Chinese Hanyu Pinyin. It is the world’s largest FTP by area, allowing freer entry of overseas goods, expanded zero-tariff coverage and more business-friendly measures. This is a landmark measure of China’s opening up to the outside world. China has once again opened its arms to the world for common economic development: People of all countries join hands to build a civilized human society with sharing prosperity.
The island-wide special customs operations(ISCO) in China’s Hainan Free Trade Port
ONE
A free trade port is a special economic function zone with the highest level of openness in the world. ISCO performed by the people of Hainan Province was based on a national plan titled Overall Plan for the Construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port (June 2020) issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on June 1, 2020. Its core lies in transforming the entire island of Hainan into a special economic zone “inside the country but outside customs,” implementing a supervision model of “freer access at the first line, regulated access at the second line, free flow within the island.” This institutional design ensures national economic security while creating unprecedented space for Hainan’s openness. The planned constructive period is as follows:
The construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port has fully launched since New Year’s Day 2026. It is gradually and rapidly establishing a set of systems to benefit from the liberalization and facilitation of international trade and investment, to continuously improve modern management and operational methods, and to promote the convenient and efficient flow of various elements. By 2035, a complete set of free trade port system and highly sophisticated operation rules will have been completed, and more of their dividends will surely overflow, from those ordinary populace can gain more practical benefits. By the middle of this century, Hainan Province will upgrade to a high-level free trade port with strong international influence, as a practical result, this island can make more Chinese contributions to international economic development. The whole people of Hainan Province are striving towards this goal.
TWO
Under the backdrop of China’s opening up to the outside world, several of our academic friends participated in the research on the construction of the special economic zone in Hainan Island in some degree in the early 1990s. We mainly engaged in the economic and cultural investigation, identified problems from practical affairs, and after discussion, refined some rationalized developmental suggestions to submit relevant administrative departments as decision-making reference. An academic work titled Folk Customs and Tourism in Gem-like Hainan Island was published by Beijing Tourism Education Publishing House in January 1996 as a part of this researchful outcomes. The book was reprinted several times in the years following its publication and sold 20,000 copies more. It is now also a compulsory reading for many related majors in colleges and universities in Hainan Province and other places. We now live in a sea-view room in an apartment building in Sanya City, immersing in the construction of the free trade port, marveling at the booming economic take-off scene.
Hainan Island is located in the South China Sea, facing the Chinese mainland across the Qiongzhou Strait, which has an average width of 29.5 kilometers. In the first year of the reign title Yuanfeng (110 BC) of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty in ancient China, the central regnal court established nine commanderies in Hainan Island, such as Nanhai, Cangwuand Zhuya, and so on. Since then, China’s central government has begun to exercise administrative jurisdiction over Hainan Island. For over 2,000 years, the residents of Hainan Island, such as the Han, Li, and Miao ethnic groups, have overcome various difficulties to diligently cultivate lands and live and multiply. Their living conditions and productive methods have undergone tremendous changes since 1949 and have been improving day by day.
Some modern measurements and statistical data from the 1950s indicate that: In Hainan Island, there are territorial areas of 33,900 square kilometers, and its coastline is winding, extending a length of approximately 1,944 kilometers (excluding the coastline of islands). There are also various modal 78 natural bays, distributed around Hainan Island, the vast majority of which are suitable for building a port. Mainly due to the obstruction of the Qiongzhou Strait, the exchange of people, materials, and information between Hainan Island and the Chinese mainland is relatively poor, which once led to the long-term comparative lag in the economic development of this island. Accelerating the island’s economic growth is a popular Chinese aspiration.
The geography and landforms of Hainan Island.
On June 12, 1987, Deng Xiaoping, who was praised by the Chinese people as the chief architect of China’s reform and opening up, met with a distinguished guest from Europe named Stefan Kroschetz in Beijing. Deng publicly announced a major measure of reform and opening up during the meeting. We would establish a larger special economic zone, namely the Hainan Island Special Economic Zone. He listed the abundant resources that Hainan Island possessed, such as rich iron ore, oil and natural gas, rubber, and so on, and clearly pointed out that we would vigorously exploit these advantageous resources. Deng Xiaoping said that if Hainan Island develops well, it will be remarkable. On April 13, 1988, the First Session of the Seventh National People’s Congress passed two motions: Decision on the Establishment of Hainan Provinceand Resolution on the Establishment of the Hainan Special Economic Zone.
According to this national strategic layout, newly established Hainan Province became China’s largest economic special zone and the only provincial-level international tourism island. The province would build an important strategic connective point facing the Pacific Ocean and a charming scenic area for international tourist consumption. In a very short period of time, batch after batch of professionals from all over the country with dreams and passion broke through the shackles of the old talent system and arrived on Hainan Island, like the waves sweeping across the QiongzhouStrait. Their total number reached 100,000.
Some infrastructures for economic development in Hainan Province have begun to take shape after a period of construction. For instance, five major ports showed initial form, including Haikou Port, Sanya Port and Yangpu Port, and so on. Oceangoing freighters fully loaded with steel, fertilizers, building materials, and other supplies kept entering these seaports one after another. A large number of domestic and foreign tourists have come to the island. They stroll along the golden beaches, rest in the green coconut grove,s and swim into the blue ocean waves, fully enjoying the charm of the fragrant, juicy coconut and the oceanic wavy rhythm.
THREE
Before the island-wide special customs operations(ISCO), Hainan Province is an island at the forefront of the maritime border; after ISCO, Hainan Province is more like a door facing the world.
Since ISCO is running, only during the period of December 18th to 31st, 2025, customs statistics showed that the import of “zero-tariff” goods reached Ren Min Bi (RMB) 420 million yuan; The duty-free goods of processing value-added domestic sale exceeded RMB 47.23 million yuan; The duty-free shopping of leaving Hainan Island attained RMB 1.1 billion yuan. During the same period, new registered foreign trade enterprises increased 3,265, more than twice year-on-year, and the volume of foreign trade transshipment containers soared by 213%. Hainan has seized the initiative in regional trade.
“Zero tariff” is an important operational feature of international free trade ports and also one of the main political and institutional systematic characteristics of the Hainan Free Trade Port. After running the island-wide special customs operations(ISCO), the scope of “zero-tariff” goods will expand from the current 1,900 tariff items to approximately 6,600 tariff items, accounting for about 74% of all commercial tariff items, up nearly 53 percentage points compared to before ISCO. Nowadays, an Australian vessel carrying live cattle can directly transport them to Yangpu Port in Hainan Island, China, for commercial slaughtering and processing, and then transfer them to other provinces and cities on the Chinese mainland for sale. So, this marketable logistical cost can be reduced by 15,% and the time can be shortened by 6 days. Coconuts from Indonesia and durians from Thailand no longer need to be transshipped through Singapore when exporting to China. On the contrary, the ocean-going vessels carrying those goods can directly sail into Yangpu Port. As long as 30% of the processing is completed, the merchandise can enter the Chinese continental hinterland to sell with zero tariff. Ordinary Chinese civilians have reaped benefits from these imported goods to improve their living quality. The populations of exporting countries can also gain corresponding commercial profits and well-being from international trade, featuring low prices and high sales.
An island duty-free shopping mall in Hainan Province.
At present, the phenomenon of conservatism in the global market is hindering free trade more than ever, endangering various national normal economic communication and cooperation. The Hainan Free Trade Port provides a new venue for convenient, sustainable, and fair trade among countries. Free and fair trade promotes human social, civilized progress and prosperity.
FOUR
Education is the foundation for a country’s prosperity and a nation’s flourishing. Hainan Province has built several international educational parks as an important part of the construction of the free trade port in recent times. Some internationally renowned universities either establish wholly-owned universities in the superior urban areas provided by Hainan Province alone, or join hands with some Chinese universities to set up cooperative international higher education institutions in this island.
Hainan Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences (BiUH) is an international innovative university with independent legal personal status established by the University of Applied Sciences Bielefeld, Germany, in Hainan Province. It is the first overseas higher educational institution in China. This university already recruited its first batch of 280 Chinese undergraduate students in 2024, majoring in Computer Science and Technology and Electronic Information Science and Technology. The course is an “authentic” German curriculum. Classroom lecture is conducted entirely in English; meanwhile, German language training is strengthened to pave the way for students to obtain double degrees. Similarly, school administrative staff must possess the ability to communicate fluently in English at work to serve the university’s business. Under the guidance of the university’s “practical embedded” teaching method, students need to complete the required credits for their undergraduate studies, meanwhile, spend nearly half of their time to do corporate internships during their study period. The aim is to ensure the theoretical and practical integration, and then, enhance competitiveness in the workplace. Students and parents praised one after another: “Chinese student can study abroad without leaving the country. The knowledge learned is top-notch, and the tuition fees paid are equivalent to those of ordinary domestic universities. Great!”
Hainan Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences’sconstructive planning diagram.
“Not having to go abroad but being able to study abroad! That’s so cool!” These are the students’ cheers at TianshuiNormal University(TNU) in Gansu Province when the new typological teaching information from Hainan reaches the northwest region of China. This university is located at the center of China’s territorial geometrical shape and is 2,798 kilometers away from Haikou City, the capital of Hainan Province. Although the distance is far, the teachers and students still keep an eye on the phased change about Hainan Free Trade Port.
Ma Ping, a student of the 2024 undergraduate class, serves as the monitor of a class in the College of Foreign Languages of TNU. She expressed many classmates’ understanding regarding the innovative educational reform implemented in Hainan. TNU has gathered a large number of eager and ambitious students. The students all expressed that they would study hard now and serve the country in the future. On the one hand, our university is located in the remote northwest, existing more difficulties in informational exchange. On the other hand, it is located at a key juncture of ” the Belt and Roads” Initiative” implemented by the state. Overcoming geographical difficulties and actively serving the overall situation of connecting the world’s development, our students shoulder this historic obligation and responsibility.
Ma Ping also set forth a national traditional philosophical viewpoint: The sciential ocean can only be formed after absorbing all rivers, and the ideaistic sparks can only shine through multi-party collision. Many students learn about the educational reform in Hainan through various channels and gain some strength to study harder from it. The understanding of students and teachers not only reflects their joy at the country’s openness but also expresses their determination to study and work twice as hard.
Coconut Dream Corridor’ Orange-colored Sea inSanya Bay.
The teachers and students of Tianshui Normal University sincerely unburden their love for the beautiful scenery of Sanya Bay in Hainan Island. In the morning, the golden sun inSanya Bay leaps out of the sea, blooming thousands of redflowers. In the evening, a famous scenery titled Coconut Dream Corridor’ Orange-colored Sea at sunset is incredibly splendid there, showing enchanting and dreamy charm. The caring emotions of young teachers and students of TNU are a powerful backup force for the national future development. The island-wide special customs operations in the Hainan Free Trade Port have manifested new achievements in the economy and education, gaining more brilliance in the future.
Authors:
Minzu University of China Wang Tianjin
Tianshui Normal University Ma Ping