Hainan and New Zealand hold talks on cooperation in trade and tourism

A seminar focusing on building a first-rate business environment in Hainan was held in the province's capital city of Haikou on Jan 19, with attendants including Rebekah Mawson, consul general of New Zealand in Guangzhou and Wang Sheng, head of the Foreign Affairs Office of Hainan Province. 

Wang said that the Hainan Free Trade Port is striving to improve its business environment and noted that the meeting was hosted to learn from New Zealand's experience and improve Hainan's business environment. He added that a first-rate business environment will bring new opportunities for mutually-beneficial cooperation to countries around the world, including New Zealand, and offer better chances for new enterprises to invest in Hainan.

According to a report released by the World Bank, New Zealand continues to lead the world in starting a business and obtaining financing support, and ranks among the top in property registration, construction permits, taxation, cross-border trade, and contract enforcement.

At the meeting, the two parties also talked about strengthening economic, trade and tourism cooperation under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and explored the establishment of a business environment exchange and cooperation mechanism between Hainan and New Zealand.

"We are very pleased to see Hainan's commitment to piloting new initiatives in terms of the reform and opening up agenda, and we are really interested in working with Hainan in, for example, the development around duty-free shopping," said Mawson. She added that duty-free shopping is another channel to bring their products to Hainan consumers and consumers across the Chinese mainland. 

It is the third time that the consul general has visited Hainan in the past seven months, demonstrating the willingness of the Consulate of New Zealand in Guangzhou to promote practical cooperation between New Zealand and Hainan. 

In recent years, Hainan and New Zealand have continuously made new breakthroughs in cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, tourism, and education. In 2019, the total import and export trade between the two reached $33.5 million, a year-on-year increase of 52.5 percent. From January to November 2020, the total import and export volume of the two places increased to $33.9 million, almost the total 2019 volume.

Representatives from Hainan and New Zealand join a seminar centering on building a first-rate business environment in Hainan on Jan 19. [Photo/Hainan Daily]