HAIKOU, May 19. /TASS/. Last year, the surplus in services trade in China's Hainan amounted to 653 million yuan (about $ 93,000). According to the Hainan Daily, the export of services for the first time exceeded imports since April 2018 — the period when Hainan's experimental free trade zone was established.
The island's service trade in 2019 amounted to 21.965 billion yuan (about $ 3.13 billion), which is by 20.3% more compared to 2018. At the same time, exports grew by 33% to 11,309 billion yuan (about $ 1.61 billion). Imports amounted to 10.656 billion yuan (about $ 1.52 billion), which is an increase of 9.18% in annual terms.
According to the news article, trade in services in the region continues to grow rapidly. In 2018, the number of units of this market segment grew by 58.9%, last year - by 59.6%. The greatest activity was noted in the field of tourism, the transport industry, telecommunications and information services. According to the January-April 2020 indicators, the largest growth was noted in the field of telecommunications and IT services (by 159.4% in annual terms) and business services (by 120.82% compared to January-April of the previous year).
In April 2018, President Xi Jinping said that the Chinese authorities intend to actively involve Hainan in globalization and to draw foreign investors to the island province. By 2050, according to the authorities, the island should become a unique international cluster with an advanced economy, developed tourism, top-notch scientific, technical and financial potential, and modern medicine. The branches of the best universities and offices of the most powerful corporations in the world will be located on the Island of Hainan.