Chinese Vice-Premier urges progress on Hainan free trade port

BEIJING -- Chinese Vice-Premier Han Zheng on Friday called for new progress on building the Hainan free trade port.

Han, also member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of a leading group on deepening all-round reform and opening-up in south China's Hainan Province, made the remarks while presiding over a meeting of the group.

Highlighting the building of the Hainan free-trade port as a major strategic move, Han demanded a greater sense of responsibility and urgency in fully implementing the overall plan for developing the free trade port.

He called for unswerving efforts to achieve the goal of island-wide independent customs operation by the end of 2025 and to firmly grasp the focus of integrated institutional innovation.

Attention should be directed to key areas and difficult issues, and work should be advanced in an orderly manner, the vice premier said. He urged efforts to conduct stress-testing before the independent customs operation, expand the pilot areas of import and export policies, and make data-sharing plans based on the demands of different departments and sectors.

Coordination should be enhanced at central and local levels to deliver policy measures in a better manner and at a faster pace, he said.

China released a master plan in June 2020 to build the island province into a globally influential and high-level free trade port by the middle of the century.