Decoding Hainan's strategic blueprint for modern industrial system

With China's southern island province of Hainan gearing up to launch its special customs operations, the expected higher level of openness is set to bring together high-quality resources from both China and abroad, providing crucial support for building a modern industrial system.

Hainan has outlined its strategic development framework for this modern industrial system with distinctive characteristics and advantages, featuring a tiered and structured layout, which has been dubbed "45432".

The first "4" stands for optimizing and upgrading the four leading industries: tourism, modern services, high-tech industries, and efficient tropical agriculture, which currently contribute over 67 percent of the provincial GDP.

The "5" signifies cultivating new quality productive forces along five strategic fronts, leveraging Hainan's unique advantages in climate, ocean depth, latitude, and green ecology to forge strengths in seed development, the marine economy, aerospace, green development, and the digital economy.

The second "4" reflects a forward-looking plan to develop four advanced industries: bio-manufacturing, hydrogen energy, brain-computer interfaces, and embodied AI.

The "3" focuses on excelling in three key consumption areas: expanding duty-free shopping, developing international healthcare, and refining education into world-class offerings.

Finally, the "2" underpins the entire structure by building Hainan into both an Island of Talent and an Island of Technological Innovation.

Together, the "45432" framework comprehensively connects industrial upgrading, cutting-edge innovation, premium consumption, and talent, cementing Hainan's role as a strategic and high-value frontier for broader opening-up and high-quality development.

Li Hongzhong, vice chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, met with the European Parliament's delegation for relations with China led by chair Engin Eroglu in Beijing on Wednesday.

Li, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that China is willing to work with the European Union (EU) to strengthen communication, enhance mutual trust, deepen cooperation, and pursue mutual benefit and win-win outcomes.

He said China stands ready to join hands with the EU to address global challenges, promote exchanges and cooperation among legislative bodies, effectively utilize communication mechanisms, and advance the sound and stable development of China-EU relations.

Eroglu said the EU stands ready to work with China to contribute to the development of EU-China relations.