The container terminal at Haikou Port in Hainan province. YUAN CHEN/FOR CHINA DAILY
China's first cross-border trade in services negative list for its Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP) was implemented on Aug 26, which will encourage the Hainan FTP to build itself into a strong international services hub.
The negative list was issued by the Ministry of Commerce on July 26. It lists special management measures for overseas service providers in terms of national treatment, market access, local presence, and cross-border trade in financial services, which are applicable to the entire Hainan province.
The negative list specifies 70 special management measures for overseas service providers in 11 categories, including shipping, retail, logistics, finance and education. For areas not included in the list, global and domestic service providers will have a level playing field and enjoy equal market access at the port, the Ministry of Commerce said.
Officials of the Ministry of Commerce stated that the introduction of the negative list is an important measure for China to promote high-level institutional opening-up, and it is of great significance to Hainan FTP's high-quality development as well as the construction of China's high-level open economy.