HAIKOU /China/, July 25. /TASS/. The southern Chinese province of Hainan and Hong Kong have great potential and space for cooperation. Leung Chun-ying, former head of the Hong Kong administration and deputy chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (APCCC, China's 13th highest deliberative body), said on Monday.
"China is currently promoting the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port and the Greater Bay Area (includes nine cities in South China's Guangdong province, Hong Kong and Macau and is now seen as a new promising accelerated economic development zone with great investment appeal - TASS)," he said at the opening ceremony of the 2nd China International Consumer Products Exhibition in Haikou (Hainan province, South China).
"The potential and space for cooperation between Hainan and Hong Kong are enormous," Leung Chun-ying continued. He stressed that Hainan and the Greater Bay Area are Hong Kong's best partners in international and domestic trade.
June 1, 2020, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council of China published a program for the creation of a free trade port in Hainan. The document provides for the creation 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, by which time the island should have a system of free trade and investment. By 2035, Hainan is expected to have a free trade and investment system, cross-border capital flows, entry and exit of people, and freight transportation.