China plans to press ahead with the development of the Hainan Free Trade Port as part of its broader strategy to deepen reform and expand high-standard opening up, according to Premier Li Qiang.

Li mentioned the project as part of the government work report delivered at the opening of the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress. He covered the upgrading of pilot free trade zones during the past year and cited the island-wide special customs operations launched in the Hainan Free Trade Port. The report marked the eighth consecutive year that the area has been mentioned in the annual address.

The premier also noted that the trend would continue as the country intends to improve the layout and scale of pilot free trade zones to boost their innovation-driven development capacity.

The island-wide special customs operations were initiated in the Hainan Free Trade Port on Dec 18, marking a historic milestone in the island province's pursuit of higher-level opening up to the world. In the two months since, the number of new foreign-funded enterprises in Hainan rose by 45.6 percent. The policy shift expanded the proportion of imported goods eligible for zero tariffs to 74 percent, an increase from 21 percent. Data from this timeframe shows the value of imports and exports at local customs ports grew by more than 9 percent, according to authorities.

Imported products that undergo at least 30 percent value-added processing in Hainan can enter the mainland tariff-free. Certain goods currently banned or restricted nationwide enjoy open policies in Hainan.

During the recent Spring Festival holiday, the value of zero-tariff goods brought into Hainan reached nearly 48.6 million yuan ($7.04 million), resulting in about 9.4 million yuan in exempted tariffs.