On July 4, the concluding seminar of the research project on the development Hainan free trade port was held at the BFA Secretariat. The project was a joint effort by Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), China Finance Association, the Office of Pilot Free Trade Zone (Office for Fully Deepening Reform) of Hainan Provincial Party Committee, China Institute for Reform and Development, and University of Sanya. The research group invited external experts from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Commerce, the Development Research Center of the State Council, and the Advisory Committee of Hainan. Discussions were held on the draft report called Development of a Free Trade Port with Chinese Characteristics in Hainan Province with the Service Industry as a breakthrough (hereinafter referred to as the “Report”). Mr. Li Baodong, head of the research project, Secretary General of BFA, and President of the BFA Institute, chaired the meeting.

Li stressed that the development of China (Hainan) Pilot Free Trade Zone and Free Trade Port with Chinese characteristics was personally planned, deployed and announced by General Secretary Xi Jinping. It is an important initiative of the Party Central Committee and the State Council to promote China’s high-quality economic development and to comprehensively deepen the reform and opening-up policy in the challenging and changing environment home and abroad, a testament to China’s determination to expedite the formation of a new landscape for opening up and promote economic globalization. The research project aims to contribute to the drafting and discussion of the policies towards the free trade port with Chinese characteristics. During the meeting, external experts spoke highly of the main conclusions of the report briefed by the research group members, and provided suggestions for further improvement. The discussion was heated and insightful.

For the next step, the research group plans to modify the report based on the meeting outcomes, and finalize the report by the end of July, with the hope to assist the policy and system design for the development of a free trade port with Chinese characteristics in Hainan.