Opportunity｜Haikou, a city with talent
When you stroll through the old streets of Haikou, the elegantly detailed sculptures and the Southern-style rides must have amazed the people of the old days who brought back from overseas the baroque flavour of architecture.
Driving through the new Jiangdong New Area in Haikou with the windows open, a modern high-rise building rises into view and it is like travelling through.
As one of the 11 key parks in Hainan's free trade port, Jiangdong New District is being developed into an innovation zone for a comprehensive deepening reform pilot area, an experience zone for an international tourism consumption centre, a demonstration zone for servicing and guaranteeing major national strategies, and a showcase zone for a national ecological civilisation pilot area.
The latest news shows that the Jiangdong New Area Park will achieve a business income of 227.2 billion yuan in 2021, an average annual growth of 105%; tax revenue of 4.45 billion yuan, an average annual growth of 186.7%; and the introduction of foreign investment of 1.269 billion dollars, an average annual growth of 56.5%, ranking first in the province's key parks for two consecutive years. Up to now, a total of 21,149 enterprises have been registered in Jiangdong New Area.
Jiangdong is not to be underestimated when it rises again.
Haikou, a southern tropical city with stunning seaside scenery, has built up a huge potential with thousands of years of cultural history since the opening of the port in the Northern Song Dynasty.
The new Haikou exudes boundless youthful energy everywhere. Photo by Xu Ersheng
After generations of exploration and hard work, it has been awarded the titles of China's charming city, China's most happy city, China's top ten cities with good living, China's city with the most investment potential, China's excellent tourist city, national historical and cultural city, national civilized city, national model city of double support, etc.
The coastline of Haikou is approximately 136.23 kilometres long. There is no cold in winter, no heat in summer, and the four seasons are evergreen and warm. Photo by Xu Ersheng
Sharing the opportunities of openness, creating a better life together. From 26 to 30 July this year, the 2nd China International Consumer Goods Fair (hereinafter referred to as "the 2nd Consumer Goods Fair") will be held in Haikou, focusing on consumer goods and debuting new products and promoting a high level of openness to the outside world, which has once again raised the emotions of the islanders in Haikou wearing ribbons.
With the successful maiden voyage of the Consumer Expo-themed painted aircraft, people opened their arms and embraced their friends from all over the world with enthusiasm.
As the pivot city of the national "One Belt, One Road" strategy and the core city of Hainan's free trade port, Haikou carries the weight of development in a new era, and with a very gifted eye, seizes the opportunity to create a new benchmark for reform and opening up in South China.
How much talent
2022 is a key year in preparation for the island-wide closure and operation of Hainan's free trade port.
Improving quality and efficiency in tourism consumption and industrial investment, and extending the life cycle of the provincial economy, requires us to quickly seize the window of time.
As the second edition of the Consumer Expo is about to open, what is the talent of Haikou, known as the Coconut City, to rise to the occasion?
From January to December 2021, the cumulative cargo throughput of the port (Xiuying Port, Xinhai Port and Yuehai Railway South Port) was 109.004 million tonnes, an increase of 4.2% year-on-year. Photo by Xu Ersheng