On 9 June 2023, H.E. Ambassador Zheng Zeguang attended the Hainan Free Trade Port UK Promotion Conference and delivered a speech titled Seizing the Opportunities of Hainan’s Development to Advance Mutually-Beneficial Cooperation Between China and the UK. Mr Ni Qiang, Vice Governor of Hainan Province and Director of the Office of the Hainan Free Trade Port Working Committee, Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, Chair of the China-Britain Business Council, and Mr Fang Wenjian, Chairman of the China Chamber of Commerce in the UK, also made remarks at the conference. Minister Bao Ling and Minister Counsellor Bi Haibo from the Chinese Embassy in the UK, the Hainan province delegation and nearly 300 guests from the Chinese and UK business communities were present at the event.
Ambassador Zheng noted that since the launch of Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP) in 2018, Hainan has given full play to the pilot policies and rolled out a host of pioneering actions and that a great number of breakthroughs have been made. It has opened up its services sector wider to the world by launching the first negative list for cross-border trade in services, issued more than 180 policy papers on trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation, and put in place a modern industrial system underpinned by tourism, modern service industries, high-tech industries and tropical high-efficiency agriculture, etc. The central government of China will accelerate the FTP development, implement the strategy to upgrade the FTZs and bring the potentials of this pilot platform into full play.
Ambassador Zheng stressed that "de-risking" touted by the US and its allies is essentially no different from "decoupling". Both are aimed at stalling China’s technological and economic development and containing China. It is bound to fail because it runs counter to the laws of the market as well as the trend of our times and it has certainly underestimated the firm resolve, great capacity and strong resilience of the Chinese people. What the international community must watch out for are the real risks of "de-risking" to the world. Ambassador Zheng expressed his hope that Chinese and UK business communities will work together to oppose the wanton moves of the US and its allies and stick to the direction of dialogue and cooperation, abide by WTO rules and the principle of mutual benefit, explore new areas, create new highlights of cooperation, and bring more benefits to the Chinese and British people.
Ambassador Zheng said that since the beginning of this year, China’s economy has recovered steadily. In the first quarter, China’s GDP increased by 4.5% and the retail sales of consumer goods grew by 5.8% year on year, both better than expected. More than 10,000 foreign-invested enterprises were established in China, up by 25.5%, and paid-in investment rose by 4.9% over the same period of last year. In April, the China International Consumer Products Expo 2023 in Hainan attracted companies from across the world. Foreign businesses in China and international organisations are optimistic about China’s economic prospects and the World Bank predicts that China’s GDP will grow by 5.6% this year.
Ambassador Zheng pointed out that over the past 51 years, China-UK economic and trade cooperation has made great progress, bringing huge tangible benefits to the two peoples. People in the UK have come to see more clearly that the benefits of China-UK economic and trade relations can help the UK achieve its goals including halving inflation, reducing debt, improving people's livelihood, and realising green transformation. Ambassador Zheng encouraged the UK business community to harness the platforms offered by Hainan, which open up new channels for bilateral trade and investment, provide new potentials of cooperation in modern industries, and create new frontiers of international cooperation. He expressed hope that the UK business community will seize the opportunities brought by Hainan FTP and that by joining in this new giga-port, a new chapter can be opened in China-UK cooperation.
At the promotion conference, Vice Governor Ni Qiang introduced the practical cooperation between Hainan FTP and the UK in economic and trade, education, finance, sister cities, tourism and other fields, saying that the cooperation between China and the UK has great potentials. Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles and Chairman Fang Wenjian addressed the conference, inviting British companies to seize the opportunities in Hainan and secure broad prospects of mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries.
