Hainan's Role and Approaches Highlighted at 3rd BRF

At the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) held in Beijing on October 18, China's southern province of Hainan's role and approaches in jointly building the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) were introduced, garnering the attention of the forum participants.

Hainan's progress in green development was mentioned as part of the green development path, direction, actions, and practices of the BRI over the past decade, which was briefed at the High-Level Forum on Green Development.

At the Thematic Forum on Trade Connectivity, the report—China's Trade and Investment Cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (2013-2023)—was released, providing a summary of the measures and achievements of the BRI in trade exchanges and cooperation on investment, development, and local construction over the past decade since the BRI's inception.

The Thematic Forum on Trade Connectivity, part of the third BRI Forum for International Cooperation, gets underway on October 18. (Photo: Chen Bin / Xinhua)

Hainan featured heavily in the report, with particular emphasis on the development of one of the island's top international events, the China International Consumer Products Expo (CICPE). Since the first CICPE in 2021 to its third iteration in 2023, the international exhibition area at the expo has increased from 60,000 square meters to 80,000 square meters, and the proportion of overseas brands exhibiting increased from 75% to 80%. Another highlight mentioned in the report is that the Hainan Free Trade Port has been selected as one of the places in the Chinese Mainland to pilot high-standard international economic and trade rules.

Guests attending the forum noted Hainan's participation in the joint construction of the Belt and Road and sought business opportunities to deepen international cooperation with the island within the BRI. Some guests also offered suggestions on how Hainan could further deepen international cooperation.

“Hainan has a unique green environment and is building a free trade port. It has the potential to become the best choice to develop green economic cooperation between China and ASEAN.” Tan Sri Ong Tee Keat, chairman of Malaysia's Centre for New Inclusive Asia, proposed that China can use Hainan as a conduit to share its expertise and development experiences with Southeast Asian countries in areas such as maritime tourism, aquaculture, maritime logistics, and food processing.