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China sells the world on its duty-free Hainan island, amid a $1.28 trillion trade surplus
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Hainan is taking its first steps towards an ambitious goal of becoming a “globally influential” free trade port by 2050.
PHOTO: AFP
Andrew Higgins
HAIKOU, China – With tariffs rising around the world and US President Donald Trump vowing an end to decades of globalisation, China’s leadership is trumpeting a tropical island as proof that it is moving in the opposite direction.
The island of Hainan – a province of China off the country’s southern coast 50 times the size of Singapore – in December 2025 scrapped tariffs on most imports, slashed corporate and individual taxes, and declared itself the world’s largest “free trade port”. China declared it an emblem of its readiness for two-way trade with the world.
