28 Nov 2023, 09:49

Hainan Province promotes its free trade port project in Singapore

Five key project agreements were signed during a conference in Singapore to promote the construction of Hainan's free trade port project

HAIKOU /China/, November 28. /TASS/. The southern Chinese province of Hainan held a series of events on November 22-25 to promote its free trade port project in Singapore and strengthen trade and economic cooperation with this state, the Hainan International Communication Network (HICN) reported.

Five agreements on key projects were signed during a conference in Singapore on promoting the construction of Hainan's free trade port on November 23. These include finance, trade in services and several industrial sectors. Hainan also announced that it plans to set up a branch of the Hainan Provincial Bureau of International Economic Development in Singapore to promote cooperation in clean energy.

Over the course of the events, the Hainan delegation also sought opportunities to establish cooperation with several leading Singaporean companies. These include Temasek Holdings, CapitaLand Group, Changi Airports International, Wilmar International, PSA International, Mandai Wildlife Group and Koufu Group, among others.

Hainan is looking to learn as much as possible from the city-state's trade-oriented experience and take advantage of its free trade port and investment environment to build up engagement with Singapore in areas such as low-carbon industry, digital economy, healthcare, trade and investment, and building industrial parks, HICN wrote.

A free trade port construction project is currently underway in Hainan. Its program was unveiled in June 2020. It envisages turning the island into a special customs zone. The country's government expects to generally complete the creation of the free port by 2025, expecting the island to have already established a system for ensuring free trade and investment by that time.

By 2035, the Freeport and its model will reach a more advanced level of maturity. By then, Hainan is to ensure the freedom of trade and investment, cross-border capital movement, travel, and cargo transportation.

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