HAIKOU, September 7. /TASS/. Belgian companies expressed interest in new business opportunities Hainan's free trade port has to offer and expressed their readiness to start working on enhancing cooperation, reported the Hainan Daily.

According to the news outlet, Hainan's Office for International Economic Development together with the Belgian-Chinese Economic and Trade Commission and several other organizations, including the EU-China Joint Innovation Center , held an online presentation on the benefits of the island's new development program. During the event, dozens of potential investors in Belgium pointed out the attractiveness of the business conditions proposed by the local administration.

As the head of the commission Bernard Dewitt emphasized, the Belgian businessmen paid special attention to the dynamic development of tourism and Hainan's advanced service sector. He said with confidence that the island "would become a new pole" in the liberalization of international trade and economic relations and proposed to jointly promote promising projects.

"Over the recent years, cooperation between China and Belgium has been successfully developing. In the future, Hainan will play an increasingly important role in international trade and economic development thanks to the policy of preferences," said Patrick Nijs, the founder of EU-China Joint Innovation Center.

The representatives of Belgian companies' management agreed that Hainan's free trade port has great potential. In response, the Chinese side invited them to participate in large-scale exhibitions that will take place in the near future, to learn about all the advantages and, at the same time, present the best goods and services Belgium has to offer.

About Hainan's free trade port 

Earlier, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Сhinese State Council published the “General Program for the Establishment of a Free Port on Hainan,” according to which the island’s administration intends to create an effective system to fulfill a number of important social and economic goals by 2025, and within 10 years to decisively enhance the innovative mechanisms for the region's development.  

By 2025, the Chinese government intends to create an "international center for tourism and consumption" on Hainan. In order to do so, the "Eastern Hawaii" with their unique natural landscapes, thick rainforests and great climate will establish a developed network of hotels, which blend perfectly with white sandy beaches stretching along the coastline. The combination of an exotic subtropical nature and a modern eco-friendly infrastructure will boost tourist inflow to the island from the most distant parts of the world.