To creat a new "Maritime Hainan" and accelerate the building of Hainan into a strong marine province is not only to double the scale of its marine economy, but also to create new room for cooperation under the China‑ASEAN Blue Economy Partnership. This will markedly strengthen the strategic function of the Hainan Free Trade Port in linking the domestic and international markets, and forge the "blue underpinning" for developing a major gateway for opening-up. 

I. Achieve the Development Goal of Creating a New "Maritime Hainan" in Advancing the China‑ASEAN Blue Economy Partnership.

1. Align with the development-oriented megatrend of China-ASEAN blue economy cooperation. The blue economy represents a vast market for China-ASEAN economic growth, economic and trade cooperation and industrial transformation. Currently, the marine economy accounts for around 30 percent of ASEAN countries' combined GDP, while China's marine economy contributes around 7.9 percent to its GDP. 

In practice, China-ASEAN blue economic cooperation urgently needs to shift from commodity trade toward the integration of industrial and supply chains. In 2025, primary products made up 85 percent of marine products exported from ASEAN to China, with processed products accounting for merely 15 percent. Meanwhile, China's marine industries are accelerating their transition toward high-end, smart and green development.

Therefore, advancing the joint development of China-ASEAN blue economy's industrial and supply chains will not only serve as a key driver of China's sustained economic growth, but also deliver important opportunities for ASEAN countries in processing and manufacturing, marine-related services and other sectors.

2. Expand the development space of Hainan's marine economy while advancing the China‑ASEAN Blue Economy Partnership. Markets constitute as a key driver of economic growth. In reality, relying solely on intra-provincial circulation and a land-based mindset can hardly support the goal of doubling the scale of the marine economy. It requires a larger market, higher-level opening-up and cooperation to foster growth momentum for Hainan's marine economy.

In 2025, marine product trade between China and ASEAN accounted for less than 1 percent of their total bilateral trade. Preliminary estimates show that every one-percentage-point average increase in China-ASEAN marine product trade will unlock nearly USD 10 billion in new market potential. Seizing the important opportunities presented by the transformation and upgrading of RCEP and the forthcoming implementation of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0, we should explore new growth drivers in  building a unified large market for the China-ASEAN blue economy. 

3. Foster impetus for doubling the scale of the marine economy by strengthening blue economic cooperation with ASEAN. Hainan boasts maritme resources spanning approximately 2 million square kilometers and a coastline of around 1,900 kilometers, endowing it enormous potential to develop deep-sea technologies, marine fisheries, marine tourism,  marine new energy and international shipping services. 

For example, the value-added of aquatic product processing accounted for merely 1.3 percent of the value-added of marine fisheries in Hainan in  2025, compared with 21.7 percent nationwide. Preliminary estimates indicate that if Hainan substantially improves the efficiency of marine resource utilization and lifts its marine economic density per unit of coastline to 50 percent of Guangdong's level, the province's gross marine product would reach around 450 billion yuan.

Hainan's greatest strength in developing its marine economy lies in combining the opening-up advantages of the Free Trade Port with its marine resource endowments. By optimizing resource allocation within the large market connecting China and the ASEAN, Hainan can advance toward its development goal of creating a new "Maritime Hainan".

II. Leverage the goal of creating a new "Maritime Hainan" to strenthen the Strategic Function of the Hainan Free Trade Port as a Key National Gateway for Opening-up

1. Serve as a critical convergence hub for linking China and ASEAN's large marine consumer market. China has grown into a major global consumer market for the blue economy. In 2024, China's total consumption of marine aquatic products accounted for over 35 percent of the global total. In 2025, China's cruise departures made up more than 50 percent of the Asia-Pacific volume.  

Capitalizing on the ultra-large domestic marine consumer market, Hainan is well positioned to expand consumer sectors including marine tourism, cruise and yachting, and wellness resorts, and emerge as a premium destination for international marine consumption. Leveraging policy advantages such as the "zero tariff" treatment, Hainan may formulate and implement an expaned import program for ASEAN marine products, build an ASEAN-oriented  marine product import base, and facilitate better access of ASEAN marine products and marine services to China's large market.

2. Serve as a pivotal base for integrating China-ASEAN blue industrial and supply chains. In the first half of 2026, the value of offshore engineering equipment orders secured by China accounted for over 80 percent of the global market. In 2025, China's installed capacity of offshore wind power made up nearly half of the world's total, and its independently developed marine pharmaceuticals represented close to 30 percent of all marketed varieties worldwide.

In the coming years, efforts will be made to achieve the synergy between Hainan Free Trade Port policies and the rules of origin under RCEP and the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area and other frameworks, so as to foster an industrial chain featuring  "ASEAN resources - Hainan processing - Chinese market". Leveraging the advantage of the "first-line liberalization" of the Hainan Free Trade Port, Hainan can build itself into a service and support base for the "going global" of China's offshore engineering equipment manufacturing sector.

3. Serve as a blue economy service center with a focus on capacity building. ASEAN faces a substantial shortage of skilled talent for the development of modern marine industries, whick has become a major constraint on its marine economic development. For example, hampered by the domestic shortage of specialized personnel, around 40 percent of seafarers and key maritime posts in Malaysia rely on foreign workers. 

It is proposed that Hainan capitalize the visa-free entry, streamlined work permits, residence and stay policies, and education opening-up policies of the Hainan Free Trade Port to build an ASEAN-oriented blue economy capacity center, and establish a professional marine service system covering maritime legal services, maritime arbitration, offshore engineering consultancy and shipping information services.

4. Serve as a pilot zone for "governance through cooperation" in the South China Sea. Aiming to contribute to building a sea of peace, friendship and cooperation, Hainan will take the lead in carrying out practical cooperation in marine ecological and environmental conservation, sustainable development and utilization of fishery resources, marine scientific research, maritime search and rescue, and other fields. It will enhance security mutual trust by continuously expanding converging interests and formulate the Hainan practice of "governance through cooperation".

III. Pursue Major Breakthroughs in Blue Economic Cooperation with ASEAN via High-Level Opening-up

1. Make new breakthroughs in unilateral opening-up of the marine economy towards ASEAN. For example, developing Yangpu into a free industrial port zone focused on oil and gas, and fully implementing free trade policies for oil and gas-related businesses; investing in and building a public service platform covering import procurement, inspection and quarantine, cold chain logistics, processing and value-addition, and exhibition and trading; leveraging policies such as the support for launching round-Hainan Island and cross-border cruise tourism routes, encouraging Chinese and ASEAN enterprises to develop South China Sea cruise routes and products mainly targeting Chinese consumers, advancing the joint establishment of an island tourism cooperation alliance, and proactively sharing China's large cruise tourism market;  and scaling up the sharing and dissemination of experience in sustainable fisheries development, and jointly developing marine ranches,  among other initiatives.

2. Build a headquarters base and service and support base for marine-related enterprises to "go global". Support Chinese marine-related enterprises to take Hainan as their headquarters base to deploy industrial and supply chains targeting ASEAN in sectors including fishery development, marine new energy, port logistics and offshore engineering. 

For example, focusing on equipment for deep-sea oil and gas exploration and development, marine renewable energy and resource development equipment, and offshore engineering environmental protection equipment, a number of bonded maintenance centers may be set up in the Hainan Free Trade Port, along with export bases, bonded maintenance bases and assembly bases mainly serving ASEAN. Drawing on policies such as the relaxed Catalogue of the Prohibited and Restricted Import and Export Goods and Articles, Hainan can host a number of resource and energy refining and components remanufacturing bases oriented toward ASEAN under the "two ends outside" model. Acceletating the cultivation of high-end service sectors including shipping services, maritime law and arbitration, and marine finance and insurance to improve the service support system for enterprises "going global".

3. Build an ASEAN-oriented marine-related service system via integrating the Hainan Free Trade Port and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Guangdong is China's largest province in terms of marine economic output, while Hainan boasts the country's richest marine resource endowments. 

It is proposed that the two sides jointly develop marine ranches,  marine new energy and marine biomedicine and other marine resources, and attract R&D institutions from Guangdong engaged in marine fisheries, renewable energy, oil, gas  and mineral resources to set up installation, testing and promotion centers in Hainan. 

Efforts will be made to enhance coordination between the Hainan Free Trade Port and the Guangdong-Hong Kong- Macao Greater Bay Area for the establishment of marine biomedicine R&D platforms, and jointly develop marine biomedicine R&D centers, raw material and drug depository bases, and trading centres for marine biomedical products.

Hainan may attract relevant Hong Kong enterprises to participate in its port operation and introduce Hong Kong's regulatory regimes in ship management and leasing, ship financing, maritime insurance, and maritime law and dispute resolution,among other initiatives.

The author is the chief researcher of the Hainan Institute for Free Trade Port Studies.