The opening-up of Chinese institutions to the world is set to gain faster pace with the upcoming launch of island-wide independent customs operations at the Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP) in the country's south, a Ministry of Commerce spokesman said on Thursday in Beijing.
Speaking at a regular press briefing, He Yadong, the spokesman, said the commerce ministry is ready for the official launch of the Hainan FTP's island-wide independent customs operations on Dec 18, a move that underscores the country's wider push for high-standard opening up.
At its core, institutional opening-up seeks convergence with international norms in rules, standards and governance. Over the past years, China has pushed forward pilot programs, from free trade zones to the Hainan Free Trade Port, in a bid to advance reforms that create a more law-based, market-driven, and internationalized system. This will make China a more predictable, sustainable, and conducive place to do business, driving high-quality development and global win-win outcomes, He said.
The commerce ministry will work to promote high-standard construction at the Hainan FTP, the spokesman said, adding that the ministry has released lists specifying rules for goods and articles that are prohibited and restricted for import and export, and has relaxed import controls on 98 special commodity categories.
The ministry has also supported the growth of the FTP in other areas, such as establishing pilot zones for cross-border e-commerce trade, implementing the negative lists for cross-border trade in services, and advancing pilot programs for expanding opening up in fields such as health care and value-added telecommunications. All the efforts have contributed to Hainan achieving 23.1-percent growth in its services trade and a 42.2-percent surge in paid-in foreign investment in the first three quarters of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, according to the spokesman.
"Next, the Ministry of Commerce will take the independent customs operations as an opportunity to vigorously promote institutional opening-up and strive to build the Hainan Free Trade Port into an important gateway that spearheads the country's opening-up in the new era. We will promote the smooth integration and synergy between trade management policies and policies such as 'zero tariffs' and tariff exemptions for processing value-added products, in order to fully unleash the dividends of opening up. We will expand market access and open up more areas with a focus on the service sector, refine the negative list-based management system for cross-border trade, and formulate policies and measures to enhance trade liberalization and facilitation," He said.
Hainan FTP's independent customs operations to drive China's opening-up: commerce ministry
