HAIKOU, May 23. /TASS/. South China's Hainan province this week imported a car for the first time under the new duty free trade port scheme, the Hainan Daily reported.

According to the newspaper, the Hainan customs have registered the import of a foreign car worth 227,000 yuan (about $ 35,000). The duties and taxes, from which the importer was exempted, totaled 84,000 yuan (approximately $ 13,000).

According to the border control service, the car belongs to the Hainan-based leasing company "Haiqi" and was delivered to China for commercial operation. "This is an important development. It means that the duty free mechanism has begun to operate on the island in practice," the provincial customs said.

"The customs authorities helped us to understand the details of the new procedures, told us what documents should be provided, and explained the conditions for the exemption of the cargo from duty," said general director of Haiqi Lin Fangying. According to him, the new mechanism "will help strengthen the image of Hainan's Free Trade Port."

Since January 12, Hainan has begun to conduct procedures for the duty free import of land and water vehicles in the "single window" mode. The provincial authorities overseeing international shipments are processing an ever-increasing number of applications from companies looking to take advantage of the new opportunity.