Two sessions highlight Hainan's efforts to boost 'backflow' consumption

Deputies to the Hainan Provincial People's Congress and members of the Hainan Provincial Committee of CPPCC have had discussions at the two sessions on Hainan's future efforts to boost domestic consumption.

According to the delegates and CPPCC members, during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period, Hainan should redouble its efforts to attract more people to enjoy Hainan's services who intend to go overseas for duty-free shopping, education, and medical treatment.

The new pattern of development requires Hainan to give full play to its advantages and identify its development positioning and, with its unique situation, the Hainan Free Trade Port can play a greater role in attracting the return of consumption and promoting domestic circulation, said Kang Lin, a member of the 7th Hainan Provincial Committee of CPPCC and a researcher at the Hainan Industrial Economic Institute.

Kang added that the advantages of Hainan FTP lie in the fact that it not only faces the whole world, but also relies on the huge domestic market. Hainan can rely on the special FTP policies to provide domestic consumers with more variety, lower prices, and better-quality international products and services, so as to draw back those Chinese consumers who previously sought to go abroad.

"At present, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for outbound shopping, education, and medical treatment has changed, and the potential for cross-border consumption to be transformed into domestic consumption is huge," said Shi Zongwei, the deputy to the Hainan Provincial People's Congress and head of Haikou Customs. 

Shi noted that with the offshore duty-free shopping policy implemented, the construction of Hainan International Education Innovation Island proceeding, and the Boao Hope City continuously injecting vitality, the Hainan FTP is seeing really good conditions for attracting consumption "backflow". 

"The backflow of medical consumption continues to increase, and as the Hainan FTP policies and the Boao Hope City policies continue to provide dividends, more licensed medical devices will enter Boao Hope City in the future, and there will be more appropriate licensed medical services and products to benefit more people", according to Li Wei, a member of the Hainan Provincial Committee of CPPCC and the CEO of Boao Yiling Life Care Center.

Li said Qionghai should base itself in the Boao Hope City and take advantage of its key parks and its strengths in medical specialties to draw medical consumption and medical tourism back to the province.

Li Feng, a deputy to the Hainan Provincial People's Congress, said Lingshui is striving to promote the construction of the Lingshui Li'an International Education Innovation Pilot Zone against the backdrop of Hainan's acceleration of the construction of an international education innovation island, so Chinese students can enjoy world-class educational resources on their doorstep, and 50,000 students will be attracted back to domestic schools. According to Li, the blueprint of the pilot zone has been drawn up, and the construction of the projects and the introduction of the first group of colleges and universities is in full swing.