I. Current Status
As China's largest special economic zone, Hainan has become a hotspot for domestic and foreign investors. Many large enterprise groups strongly desire to set up their headquarters in Hainan.
In 2019, there were 33 headquarter enterprises acknowledged by Hainan province, with total assets of 579 billion yuan ($90.03 billion) and tax contributions totaling 2.39 billion yuan.
II. Development Advantages
(1) Transportation hub
Hainan is an indispensable hub for travel between Asia, Oceania and Southeast Asia. It is at the forefront of maritime exchanges between China and ASEAN, South Asia, and coastal countries in the Middle East, and serves as an important fulcrum for the Belt and Road Initiative.
(2) Rich marine resources
The waters around Hainan are rich in oil and gas resources, so that various engineering vessel leasing and service providers will gain more development opportunities.
(3) Vast hinterland market
Hainan is backed by the two major markets of the Chinese mainland and Southeast Asia. Entering Hainan will help enhance shipping companies' global layout.
III. Development Direction
(1) Two major headquarter bases
‐ Haikou Jiangdong New District
‐ Sanya HQ Economy and Central Business District
(2) Attracting international headquarters
‐ International headquarters, operational or regional headquarters of MNCs, especially Fortune 500 companies.
‐ International headquarters of central SOEs and large private enterprises
‐ Regional headquarters of international organizations, etc.
IV. New Opportunities for FTP Investment
(1) A system environment in line with international standards
Benchmarked against Hong Kong and Singapore, reduced corporate income tax rate and personal income tax rate in the Hainan Free Trade Port will be very attractive to headquarters and high-end talents.
(2) Increased government support
In the process of building a free trade port, Hainan will further improve its headquarters recognition standard and policy system, and greatly improve rewards for eligible headquarters.
(3) Free entry and exit of people
Besides currently providing visa-free access for 59 countries, Hainan is exploring more convenient policies for entry and exit so as to attract talents for international headquarters.
(4) Improved supporting services
Hainan will take advantage of the free trade port to attract well-known domestic and international professional service providers in the area of accounting, law, management consulting, and training, to provide headquarters with better services.
V. Recommended Industrial Parks
(1) Haikou Jiangdong New Area
The enterprises in the park include Panasonic, TOYO INK, Freescale, JABIL, ALPLA, Samsung, HExcel and other well-known companies.
(2) Sanya Headquarter Economy and Central Business District
The Sanya CBD adopts the management mechanism of "legal authority + platform company". It includes four units, the East Coast Unit, Yuechuan Unit, Phoenix Coast Unit and Hailuo Unit, which are designed to better coordinate and promote the construction and management of the Sanya Headquarter Economy and Central Business District and Sanya Cruise & Yacht Industrial Park.
VI. Successful Enterprises
(1) Bank of China Jiangdong International Finance Building
(2) Datang Group International Trade Center
(3) Hainan International Energy Trading Center
(4) Shandong Energy Group Cross-regional Headquarter
(5) Sinopec Hainan Regional Headquarter
(6) SDIC Hainan Management Headquarter and National Headquarter of Environmental Protection Sector
(7) Bank of Hainan Headquarter
(8) Haikou Financial Center
