Yangpu Port in Hainan. (Photo by Wu Xingcai,Hinews)

Thanks to the combined effects of the RCEP and Hainan’s free trade port policies, a number of new trade breakthroughs have been made this year. Haikou Customs recently reported that over the first eight months of 2024, Hainan-ASEAN trade totaled 39.16 billion yuan (5.543 billion USD), an increase of 79.1% year-on-year and accounting for 21.2% of Hainan’s total trade figures. These numbers include 13.57 billion yuan (192.1 billion USD) in imports, an increase of 3.8% and 25.59 billion yuan (3.622 billion USD) in exports, an increase of 191.4%.

“ASEAN remains Hainan’s largest trading partner.” According to a representative of Haikou Customs, over the first eight months of the year, ASEAN trade by private Hainan corporations totaled 17.02 billion yuan (2.409 billion USD), an increase of 68.6%, accounting for 43.5% of Hainan’s total ASEAN trade and 31.7% of the year-on-year trade increase. During the same period, foreign-invested corporations’ ASEAN trade totaled 15.19 billion yuan (2.15 billion USD), an increase of 56.6%, while state-owned enterprise ASEAN trade totaled 6.95 billion yuan (984 million USD), up 235.8%.

The Hainan Free Trade Port is located in the center of the RCEP region, and enjoys unique trade advantages with other RCEP member countries, including ASEAN countries. Since the RCEP came into force, Hainan has passed 16 measures aimed to deepen cooperation with RCEP member countries. These measures jointly position Hainan’s four pillar industries (tourism, the modern service industry, the high-tech industry, and tropical high-efficiency agriculture), taking full advantage of the industry and resource advantages of RCEP member countries and relying on Hainan’s key parks and regions to strengthen cooperation with RCEP member countries in many areas, including advanced manufacturing, consumer products, medical and pharmaceutical products, and agricultural product processing.

ASEAN has now become Hainan’s second largest source of agriculture product imports. Over the first eight months of 2024, Hainan imported 2.48 billion yuan (351 million USD) of agricultural products from ASEAN, an increase of 28.3%. This included 1.05 billion yuan (149 million USD) of imported fruits and nuts, up 17.7%. Demand for ASEAN tropical fruits such as coconut, durian, and mangosteen stayed high, with the scale of fruit imports continuing to expand.

During the same period, Hainan has continued to steadily expand traditional product exports to ASEAN. Over the first eight months of 2024, Hainan’s exports to ASEAN of products such as refined oil, polyester chips, and finished paper continued to increase at a steady pace. These export figures include 6.86 billion yuan (971 million USD) of refined oil products, an increase of 54%; 1.13 billion yuan (160 million USD) of polyester chips, an increase of 45.9%; and 510 million yuan (72 million USD) of finished paper products, an increase of 56.4%.

Hainan continues to deepen economic ties with ASEAN countries, with exports and imports on the rise. In the first eight months of 2024, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam were Hainan’s top three ASEAN trade partners, with 8.75 billion yuan (1.23 billion USD), an increase of 20.1% in trade to Indonesia, 6.71 billion yuan (950 million USD), an increase of 150.4% in trade to Malaysia, and 6.32 billion yuan (895 million USD), an increase of 33%, in trade to Vietnam. Meanwhile, trade with Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos and other countries also increased rapidly.

In the future, Hainan will continue to take full advantage of the province’s excellent geographical location and high-level opening up policies, as well as the newly established Hainan Free Trade Port Southeast Asia Investment Centre to promote bilateral trade and investment between ASEAN countries and Chinese countries, creating a new standard for increased cooperation with ASEAN.