Hainan may seek closer ties with Hong Kong to leverage the SAR’s strengths as a free trade port, a delegate to the country’s top political advisory body said on Saturday.

Li Rongcan, who chairs the Hainan provincial committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), called for deepening collaboration between the two places.

“Hainan is the only free trade port with Chinese characteristics while Hong Kong is an internationally renowned and highly mature free trade port,” he told a CPPCC plenary meeting in Beijing.

“Collaboration between the two places offers not just support for Hainan’s development with the help of Hong Kong’s capital, technology and international experience but also what it takes for the joint development of the Hainan free trade port and the Greater Bay Area.”

Li also called for support at the national level to foster deeper collaboration between the two places on commerce and finance.

China has launched island-wide special customs operations on Hainan, the world’s largest free trade port by area, allowing freer entry of overseas goods, expanding zero-tariff coverage and more business-friendly measures.



Edited by Thomas McAlinden