HAIKOU, May 4. /TASS/. The volume of foreign trade turnover of the southern Chinese province of Hainan in the first quarter of 2022 was 43.51 billion yuan ($6.6 billion), 65.4% higher year-on-year. That's according to the People’s Daily Online newspaper.

The respective indicator was 54.7 percentage points higher than the national average, and the highest growth rate in China. The paper noted that Hainan continues to pursue the path of building a free trade port of global significance with a China-specific identity, comprehensively promoting reform and openness, and promoting socio-economic development while combating the spread of COVID.

Yangpu Port plays a major role in this, with more than 30 foreign trade routes already passing through it. In the first quarter of this year, the foreign trade turnover of Yangpu Economic Development Zone exceeded 18.5 billion yuan ($2.8 billion).

Duty-free trade is also developing rapidly, especially in Sanya City. Since 2011, when a pilot program was launched to develop a network of duty-free stores in Hainan, the total volume of duty-free trade in Sanya has exceeded 100 billion yuan ($15.2 billion).

Hainan, according to the newspaper, in the first three months of this year also actively traded with the member countries of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). The total volume of foreign trade turnover of the province with the group amounted to 14.09 billion yuan ($2.1 billion), up 45.8% year-on-year.