Hainan inks 190 projects in H1, with investment over $13.9b

In the first half of this year, Hainan held a total of three contract-signing events that inked contracts for 190 projects with a combined contractual investment amount exceeding 90 billion yuan ($13.9 billion).

Since the release of the Master Plan for the Construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port, a new investment boom has risen in Hainan, making the island province a hot spot for domestic and foreign investors, according to officials from the Hainan International Economic Development Bureau.

Statistics show that from January to May of this year, there were 750 newly established foreign-invested enterprises in Hainan, which is almost four times as much as the same period last year. The actual use of foreign capital was $798 million, up by 527.54 percent year-on-year, and a total of 81 countries and regions opened businesses in Hainan.

Hainan CIMC Raffles Marine Engineering, a shipping company set up in Yangpu this year, marked the first shipping company registered in Hainan that is wholly owned by foreign capital since the release of the Master Plan for the Construction of Hainan Free Trade Port.

The master plan has attracted shipping companies to gather in Hainan and the review procedures conducted at the Hainan Maritime Safety Administration was greatly reduced to maintain efficiency, according to officials from Hainan CIMC Raffles Marine Engineering.

Since the beginning of this year, Hainan has continued to improve its business environment with a number of policies and measures in foreign investment and other fields being introduced one after another. Two examples are the one-stop service windows for international investment and international trade and the global investment service hotline 4008-413-413.

"We will continue to promote wider and deeper opening up in investment fields, shrink the Hainan FTP's foreign investment negatives list, relax special measures for market access, and improve fair competition and investor protection systems, all to create a more attractive investment environment," said officials from the Hainan Provincial Department of Commerce.

Key projects signing ceremony for the Hainan FTP. [Photo/Hainan Daily]