Changes in Jiangdong ②: what's done to make the biz flourish?

Ushering in a positive start to 2022 for the Hainan Free Trade Port, 142 projects involving a total investment of 37.3 billion yuan ($5.85 billion) started construction on Jan 6th, including 10 from Jiangdong New Area.

Projects also included a number of major scientific research ventures.

Fullsing Town, Haikou, one of 11 key industrial parks in Hainan

Improving the Hainan Free Trade Port Business Environment

In moves to further improve the business environment, the General Office of Hainan Provincial People’s Government recently issued guidance on further improving the business environment and better serving market entities (Qiong Fu Ban Han No. 228 [2021]).

Among the measures to be adopted are:

· Optimizing and reengineering preliminary examination and approval procedures for investment projects

· Raising the efficiency of examination and approval procedures for construction projects 

· Further simplifying approval and requirements for the production and operation of enterprises and lowering market access thresholds 

Additional measures include further improving import and export customs clearance efficiency and expanding the functions of the international trade “Single Window”, as well as improving the efficiency of enterpriserelated services and promoting business startups.

The Hainan Free Trade Port will grant market access to firms based on a prior commitment

Reducing Business Barriers

In a move set to reduce business barriers and further boost market vitality, the Hainan Free Trade Port will grant market access to firms based on a prior commitment.

A recently drafted regulation on the administration of the Hainan FTP market access based on commitment announced that, other than areas relating to national security, social stability, ecological & environmental security, and major public interests where the State implements access management, the requirement for licenses and approvals will be canceled.

After promising to meet the requirements and submitting required materials, commercial entities can begin business activities.

The move is seen as an important institutional innovation to improve the business environment in the Hainan Free Trade Port, and a supervisory system will be established to oversee and prevent possible risks from businesses that base their market entry on commitments.

Industry partnerships with academia are instrumental in advancing research and creating a skilled workforce

Employers to partner with universities

Collaboration between industry and academia is widely regarded as a key to catalyse innovation and growth. Industry partnerships are instrumental in advancing research and creating a skilled workforce.

With this in mind, a program to facilitate partnerships between employers and universities was announced on Dec 10th by China's Ministry of Education.

The university / employer partnerships will create a platform through which employers and  partner universities & colleges can work together to provide customized training programs of up to one academic year or more, as well as short-term projects ranging from a few weeks to a semester.

The program is expected to train more college graduates with the  knowledge and skills most needed for the employment market, the Ministry said in a press release.

With projects like the advanced technology and industrial innovation platform to be built in Sanya, covering research on intelligent electromechanical equipment, marine information detection, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) micro-nano satellites, and deep-sea engineering, university / employer collaboration can provide industry gains in the area of work-ready talent with specialist knowledge and practical training.