HAIKOU /China/, May 30. /TASS/. The combined export and import volume of Haikou city (administrative center of Hainan province, South China) rose 38.5% to 14.62 billion yuan (about $2.18 billion) in January-March this year. The Haikou Daily newspaper reported that this accounts for about 33.6% of total Hainan province's foreign trade in the first quarter.

The newspaper said the city's exports in January-March reached 2.68 billion yuan (about $400 million), up 43.5% year-on-year. Imports rose 37.4% to 11.94 billion yuan ($1.78 billion).

According to the article, trade volume between Haikou and the EU over the reporting period was 2.48 billion yuan (about $370.15 million), an increase of 20.7% in annual terms. Trade with member countries of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) rose 23.54% to 3.44 billion yuan (about $513.43 million). The volume of trade between the city and ASEAN reached 1.22 billion yuan (182.1 million yuan), an increase of 20.7%.

Hainan's foreign trade reached 43.51 billion yuan (about $6.49 billion) in the first quarter of 2022 up 65.4% year on year. As of the end of 2021, the island's foreign trade reached 147.68 billion yuan ($23.1 billion), an increase of 57.7% year on year.

June 1, 2020, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council of China published a program for the establishment of a free trade port in Hainan. The document provides for the development of a special customs zone on this tropical island. The PRC authorities plan to complete the construction of the free port on the territory of the province in 2025, at which point the island should establish a system of free trade and investment. By 2035, Hainan is expected to have free of trade and investment, cross-border capital flows, travel, and freight transportation.