Hainan targets trade, talent openness in 15th Five-Year Plan

Hainan province will focus on dismantling cross-border barriers to goods and capital flows and building itself into a more open hub for international talent during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30), which officials on Friday described as pivotal for the Hainan Free Trade Port.

At a State Council Information Office news conference in Haikou, Hainan Governor Liu Xiaoming said the province aims to reduce restrictions further, market investing in the FTP as a brand, expand digital and offshore trade, steadily open up the financial sector, establish more liberal shipping rules, and create mechanisms for secure, efficient cross-border data flows.

According to Liu, the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25) saw rapid development in Hainan, with goods and services trade each growing at an average annual rate of over 20 percent. The multi-function free trade accounts logged more than 350 billion yuan ($51.2 billion) in transactions. China's first seventh-freedom traffic rights route, which allows an airline to operate flights between two foreign countries without returning to its home country, began operating in Sanya, and a negative list for cross-border data flows was implemented.

The "One Million Talents Enter Hainan" campaign, which launched in 2018 and aims to conclude by Dec 31, 2025, was completed one month ahead of schedule. The province has maintained the country's most liberal visa-free entry policy, with citizens from 86 countries currently able to enter without a visa. And the number of foreign workers in Hainan rose by 90 percent.

During the upcoming five years, Hainan plans to implement the "One Million Elite Talents Develop Hainan" initiative, continue to ease entry and exit rules, deepen talent development system reforms, and build itself into an island of innovation and technology.