SIGNATURE WORK
CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION 2023

In June 2020, the introduction of the General Construction Plan for Hainan Free Trade Port marked an unprecedented reform of the economic system in China’s largest special economic zone. It is also the first official set of construction plans since Chinese President Xi publicly announced in 2018 that he would open the Hainan region to the outside world in a major reform. And since then, the central government has issued three bills, nearly a dozen guidelines and hundreds of policy reforms to speed up the construction of Hainan’s free trade port. However, this is not the first major economic reform in Hainan. Since the 1980s, Hainan Province has been a key development area for the country, enjoying significant policy benefits and financial support. However, Hainan has not seized the opportunities of previous reforms and instead has experienced severe economic stagnation. Therefore, in this study I would like to focus on the following questions: 1) Why does China want to establish a brand new FTP 2) Why is Hainan the most suitable location 3) What impact would an HFTP have on the international geopolitical landscape? 4) What is a feasible development path for an HFTP 5) What are the challenges in the development of Hainan’s HFTP and what are the policy implications to address them.