Lawmaker Cai Qiang, who is also Secretary-General of South China's Hainan Provincial People's Government, speaks to the press after the open group meeting of the Hainan delegation to the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress on March 7, 2026. Photo: Chen Qingqing/GT

At the open group meeting of the Hainan delegation to the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress, lawmaker Cai Qiang, who is also Secretary-General of South China's Hainan Provincial People's Government, described the development pace induced by the island-wide special customs operations in Hainan as "a rapid acceleration you feel when sitting in a moving car."

After the meeting, in an interview with reporters from the Global Times and other media, Cai noted that this acceleration stems from two sources: the grand development and strategic goals, and policy opportunities.

Cai said that China has set its economic growth target for 2026 at 4.5 to 5 percent. "This rate fully takes into account our economic growth potential. One factor is the growth potential brought by policy opportunities or policy dividends, and the other is the modern industrial system we are vigorously promoting," he said.

The deputy pointed out that Hainan had a relatively weak industrial foundation in the past. "Upon this weak foundation, we are building a new policy-oriented industrial system based on our policy advantages and natural endowments. For example, commercial aerospace launches in Wenchang. In a short period, Wenchang has established a basically normalized commercial launch capability, with more than 700 aerospace-related enterprises clustered there. This modern industrial system will be an important support for our economic growth in the future," he said.

Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site in Wenchang marked its 12th successful launch as the Long March-12 carrier rocket successfully sent the 19th group of low-Earth orbit satellites into space on January 19. In 2024, the site achieved its first successful launch, and by 2025, it had set a record of two launches in five days. In 2026, the site is sprinting toward the goal of launching 100 rockets and deploying 1,000 satellites.

Behind the rocket liftoffs, a new commercial space system integrating the rocket, satellite and data chains is rapidly taking shape on the coast of the South China Sea, with the launch site at its core. It has not only completed the final piece of the puzzle in China's full industrial chain for commercial space, but also blazed a new development path featuring high efficiency, low cost and systematic development, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

Following the implementation of the island-wide special customs operations, Hainan is emerging as a new frontier of China's opening-up to the outside world. 

Cai cited an example: "Previously, employees of some enterprises in Singapore and Malaysia had to fly to Beijing for meetings, an eight-hour journey that required visas. Now, they hold meetings in Hainan. It takes three to four hours for people from the company headquarters in Beijing to fly to Hainan, and the same for colleagues from Malaysia and Singapore, who can enter visa-free. Travel time has been greatly shortened, and travel costs reduced." 

Cooperation between Hainan and ASEAN in green trade, digital economy and other fields will be further strengthened, he added.

It has been more than two months since the Hainan Free Trade Port officially launched its island-wide special customs operations.

Lawmaker Feng Fei, secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Hainan Provincial Committee, said on Saturday that since the launch of the operations, overall progress has been stable and orderly, with initial achievements demonstrated in smooth flow of goods, convenient travel for people and increasing inflows of business and personnel.

According to Feng, since the launch of the special customs operation, the number of inbound and outbound passengers via Hainan's opening ports reached 653,000, up 35.1 percent, including 158,000 visa-free entries, marking an increase of 53.7 percent.

A total of 51,000 new business entities were registered, including 41,000 new enterprises, up 43.6 percent; the number of newly established foreign-invested enterprises and registered foreign trade firms also rose by 30 and 74 percent respectively, according to Feng.