HAIKOU, August 2. /TASS/. Trade in services in the southern Chinese province of Hainan in the first half of 2021 amounted to 13.67 billion yuan (about $ 2.13 billion), up by 81.23% year-on-year, reported the region's Department of Commerce.
In the said period, imports of services increased by 97.22% to 9.99 billion yuan (about $ 1.54 billion), according to the auhorities. Exports increased by 48.6% to 3.68 billion yuan ($ 568.78 million).
As indicated in the document, this year the trade in services in the Hainan province shows a positive trend, the industry is developing rapidly, the structure of trade in services is constantly being optimized.
According to the authorities, in the first half of this year, trade in digital services developed at the fastest pace: turnover amounted to 8.017 billion yuan (about $ 1.24 billion), which is 58.62% of the total volume of trade in services and 3.28 times higher than the figure for the same period in 2020. The export of digital services on Hainan in January-June increased by 1.5 times, to 1.28 billion yuan (about $ 197.8 million), imports amounted to 6.735 billion yuan (about $ 1.04 billion), which is 3.94 times higher in annual terms.
On June 1, 2020, the Chinese Central Committee of the Communist Party and the State Council published a program for the formation of Hainan's free trade port. The document provides for the creation of a special customs zone on this tropical island. The Chinese authorities plan to complete the construction of a free port in the province in general in 2025, by then a system for ensuring free trade and investment should be srt up on the island. By 2035, it is planned to ensure freedom of trade and investment, cross-border movement of capital, people, and freight traffic on the Island of Hainan.