As of the end of April 2023, thanks to the island’s three zero-tariff lists, south China’s Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP) has imported about 16.356 billion yuan (about $2.35 billion) of zero-tariff goods, according to Haikou Customs.

The three lists (one “negative list” and two “positive lists”) are linked with the FTP’s zero-tariff policies on imported raw and auxiliary materials, vehicles and yachts for commercial operations, and equipment for internal production, all of which were implemented in Hainan over the past few years. These policies follow the master plan issued by Chinese authorities in June of 2020, which outlines the path to develop the island province into a globally influential free trade port by the middle of this century.

Since the first zero-tariff sailboat was imported to the Hainan FTP on January 29, 2021, a wide range of vehicles — including multi-purpose cars and trucks, gliders, helicopters, cargo aircraft, yachts, container vessels, cargo ships, bulk carriers, oil tankers, and more — have been brought in under the FTP’s zero-tariff policy on vehicles and yachts.

So far, thanks to the implementation of the three zero-tariff lists, products imported to the island have benefited many FTP-based enterprises in key industries such as infrastructure, processing & manufacturing, and research & development.

As the island province is expected to begin island-wide independent customs clearance operations in 2025, these three zero-tariff lists are a significant preferential policy for the early stages of developing as a free trade port. Haikou Customs will continue to adjust and expand the scope of these zero-tariff lists to benefit more companies as well as the local residents of the island.