On September 11, newly released numbers from Haikou Customs showed that the foreign trade of China’s Hainan Province from January to August 2024 had reached 184.6 billion yuan (approximately 25.25 billion USD) for a 21.6% increase compared to the same period last year. With 71.5 billion yuan (about 9.8 billion USD) in exports reflecting a significant growth of 42.6%, imports of 113.1 billion yuan (roughly 15.5 billion USD) were up by 11.3%.

The cities of Danzhou (including Yangpu), Haikou, and Sanya led in trade volume, with Danzhou at the top with a recorded 87.95 billion yuan (around 12.06 billion USD) or 28.7% increase. Haikou followed with 5% growth to 56.43 billion yuan (approximately 7.73 billion USD) and Sanya saw an 8% rise to 18.68 billion yuan (about 2.56 billion USD). Together, these cities contributed 88.3% of the province’s total trade. Additionally, eight other regions (including Wanning, Wenchang, and Qionghai) outpaced the average growth rate in foreign trade.

Making up over 70% of the total trade, general trade emerged as the dominant mode, with a value of 130.19 billion yuan (roughly 17.82 billion USD), up by 44.2%. In contrast, bonded logistics increasedbby 5.9% and accounted for 28.87 billion yuan (about 3.95 billion USD), while duty-free goods were down by 33.3% to 10.65 billion yuan (around 1.46 billion USD).

With  a rise of 36.7%, private enterprises—constituting 60.2% of Hainan’s total trade—played a crucial role, with their trade value hitting 111.17 billion yuan (about 15.23 billion USD),. Foreign-invested enterprises were up 8.6% to 43.14 billion yuan (approximately 5.9 billion USD) while state-owned enterprises experienced a slight decrease of 2.9% and brought in 29.88 billion yuan (about 4.09 billion USD).

Hainan’s trade with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative and RCEP member nations also grew substantially. Trade with Belt and Road countries rose by 48.2% to 105.53 billion yuan (around 14.46 billion USD), and trade with RCEP countries increased by 39.4% to 70.45 billion yuan (roughly 9.64 billion USD). Notably, and indicating deepening ties with these regions, trade with African nations surged by 105.8% to 18.55 billion yuan (about 2.54 billion USD).