FTP attracts investors from Macao, HK, Taiwan

Construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port has boosted economic and trade cooperation between Hainan and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, Hainan provincial government officials said.

Data from the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China Hainan Provincial Committee shows that 781 Hong Kong-funded enterprises have been established in Hainan since 2018, accounting for 41 percent of the overseas-funded companies set up in the island province. Investment capital from Hong Kong hit $4.75 billion, or 78.5 percent of overseas investment flowing into the Hainan FTP during the period.

Liu Geng, deputy head of the department and director of the Hainan Provincial Taiwan Affairs Office, said that construction of the Hainan FTP has also provided new opportunities for cross-Straits economic and trade exchanges and collaboration.

Taiwan investors have launched more than 150 projects in Hainan in the past three years, with investment nearing $300 million. The new Taiwan-funded firms are mainly engaged in high-tech industries, modern service industries and modern agriculture, Liu said, adding that the quality of investment from Taiwan has improved remarkably.

Mike Xie, a young business owner from Taiwan, registered a materials technology company in Jiangdong New District in Haikou, capital of Hainan, in November to promote eco-friendly and healthy building materials made from waste rice husks with German technology.

Xie said the technology will help protect Hainan's ecosystems.

"Construction of the Hainan FTP will provide unlimited space and possibilities for the career development of young people," Xie said, adding that his company will make good use of the Hainan FTP's advantages to explore domestic and international markets.

Kang Baiying, executive deputy head of the Hainan United Front Work Department, said that Hainan has completed multipurpose platforms in six key industrial parks to serve companies from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, facilitating information sharing, daily life services, communication and transformation of scientific and technological achievements.

The platforms have introduced 320 enterprises and around 200 high-end professionals from the three areas to Hainan, with cumulative registered capital reaching 52.1 billion yuan ($8.1 billion).

Hainan has introduced a long list of measures to lure talent from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. People from overseas are also welcome to work and contribute to the development of the Hainan FTP, the provincial government said.

Hong Kong and Taiwan are the top two sources of investment coming into Hainan from outside the Chinese mainland. Hainan saw the establishment of 1,005 new overseas-invested enterprises last year, nearly triple the number in 2019.

The Supreme People's Court said in January that China will explore using people from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan as people's jurors to provide high-quality and efficient diversified dispute resolution services for Chinese and overseas parties in the Hainan FTP.

Hainan is the third-largest source of overseas Chinese. For a long time, overseas Hainan people, now totaling about 3.9 million worldwide, have not only made great achievements and gained a great deal of respect in their countries of residence, but also have devoted their energy and funds to their hometowns in Hainan, according to Shen Xiaoming, the province's Party secretary.

He said a lot of buildings, roads, bridges and schools have been built by overseas Hainan people across the province, and they have also introduced rubber and coffee growing and processing techniques to Hainan.