HAIKOU, February 4. /TASS/. Eighty countries nvested in Hainan's economy in 2020. Their number has doubled since 2019, the Hainan Daily newspaper reported, citing the local department for commerce.
The largest investors in Hainan's economy last year were Hong Kong, Taiwan, US, Singapore and Canada. Foreign-owned enterprises represented the G20 member-states, members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), as well as China's Belt and Road Initiative.
"Following the continuous expansion of the circle of Hainan's friends in terms of global cooperation, the number of players of the foreign capital market has increased significantly, and the actual used foreign capital has grown rapidly," the newspaper said.
Last year, the province created 1,005 enterprises with foreign capital, which is half of the number of such companies that have appeared on Hainan over the past 10 years. Of these, 855 enterprises were set up from June to December 2020, after the provincial authorities released a general program for Hainan's development for the coming decades. According to the statistical office of the region, the volume of foreign investment in Hainan's economy in 2020 increased by 100% reaching $ 3 billion.
On June 1, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council published the General Development Program for Hainan's Free Trade Port, according to which an effective mechanism to stimulate sustainable and long-term growth should be finally formed in Hainan by 2025. It is expected that thanks to new methods, many of which are being introduced in China for the first time, the province will be able to fulfill a number of key socio-economic tasks necessary to form a powerful financial and economic center in the country’s south. It is assumed that by 2035 both the economic and innovative potential of this region will be maximized, and it will become one of the most attractive places for international investors.