President Xi Jinping has unveiled China’s plan to build the whole of Hainan island into a pilot international free trade zone (FTZ). He announced the plan while attending a gathering to mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of Hainan province and the Hainan Special Economic Zone in Haikou, the provincial capital. President Xi emphasized that it was a major decision that involves in-depth research and overall planning and underlines China’s commitment to expanding opening up and promoting economic globalization. China welcomes investors from around the world to invest in Hainan, actively participate in the construction of the Hainan free-trade port and share in the opportunities brought by China’s development as well as the achievements brought by China’s reform, he said.

Hainan will become a pilot zone for comprehensively deepening reform and opening-up, for development of the country’s ecological civilization, an international tourism and consumption center and a zone offering services and support for the country’s major strategies. President Xi also announced plans to boost Hainan’s development in specific areas, including the service sectors, information technology, agriculture, and scientific research and innovation, the China Daily reports.

While in Hainan, Xi Jinping visited the planning hall of the Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone in Boao and inspected an array of advanced medical equipment. In Hainan, overseas investors are allowed to set up medical institutions. More imports of medical equipment and pharmaceuticals have been allowed, and foreign doctors are given more leeway to practice. He also made an inspection tour in Sanya and toured the Institute of Deep-Sea Science and Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, where the manned submersible Deep Sea Warrior is developed. Sanya is also home to the Nanfang Scientific and Research Breeding Base, where super hybrid paddy rice is cultivated.

Hainan should develop the new generation of information technology and digital economy and promote deep integration between the real economy and the internet, the internet of things, big data, satellite navigation and artificial intelligence, Xi said. A new rocket launch center is also located in Hainan. It was Xi’s fourth visit to the island province since 2010.

The island of about 9.3 million people, once considered a backwater of fishermen and poor farmers, is now an example of China’s commitment to the future and has already become a center of tourism and green agriculture. In the past five years, the island’s GDP has increased by an annual average of 8.1% to CNY446 billion in 2017. The number of tourists visiting the island has increased from about 33.2 million in 2012 to over 67 million last year. People from 26 countries can now visit the island visa free via 57 international air routes. The international airports in Haikou and Sanya received over 40 million passengers last year.

Chinese President Xi Jinping gave the keynote speech at the Boao Forum for Asia in Boao, Hainan province, on Apil 10 and met Chinese and foreign business leaders. Xi ushered in a “new phase of opening up,” making broad commitments to further liberalize China’s economy such as by “significantly broadening” market access, easing restrictions on foreign firms, lowering import tariffs, and creating a more attractive investment environment.

He said that China will create a more comfortable and orderly environment for investors from both home and abroad. China is dedicated to building an open world economy to contribute to the development of Asia and the world, Xi said. He added that China will make great efforts to move its economic development from high speed to high quality and stick to its path of deepening reform and opening-up. Through putting forward the Belt and Road Initiative, China aims to share its development with the world and pursue common development, Xi said.

Xi also promised a reduction in the current 25% import tariff on cars and a raised foreign investment cap on joint ventures. New energy vehicle (NEV) manufacturers would even be allowed to set up wholly-owned companies in free trade zones (FTZs). Wang Sheng, Analyst with Shenwan Hongyuan Securities, said the President’s remarks represented a substantial step forward in encouraging majority ownership by foreign car brands in China.

President Xi Jinping said China would grant foreign companies greater access to the financial service sector and further reduce restrictions on foreign ownership. People’s Bank of China Governor Yi Gang also announced detailed opening-up measures covering the country’s banking, insurance, securities and wealth management sectors. Yi said China would allow foreign investors to take a maximum 51% equity stake in brokerage firms, futures companies and fund management firms and foreign equity ceilings will be totally removed in these sectors within three years. In addition to financial liberalization. China will lift foreign ownership restrictions in the life insurance sector in three years and raise foreign ownership limits from 50% to 51% in joint-venture life insurance firms by the end of June. The market share of foreign life insurers in China stood at around 5.8% by the end of last year, but their market share in large cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou has been close to 20%.

Chinese experts also called for further reform of the domestic capital market, including rules for initial public offerings (IPOs), delisting, mergers and acquisitions (M&As), and information disclosure by listed companies. Shanghai and Shenzhen aim to become global financial centers rivaling New York and London.

President Xi Jinping said the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) may be China’s idea, but its opportunities and outcomes are going to benefit the whole world. Xi also said that as a new initiative, it is perfectly natural for there to be different views on cooperation. It is a globally important initiative that represents perhaps the most coherent grand strategy in world affairs at the moment, according to Kent E. Calder, Director of the Reischauer Center for East Asian Studies at Johns Hopkins University, who also attended the Boat Forum. Last year, Chinese enterprises made USD14.36 billion in non-financial direct investment in 59 countries involved in the initiative.

David Dollar, Senior Fellow at the John L. Thornton China Center of the Brookings Institution, said the Belt and Road Initiative is a global effort on China’s part to fund infrastructure investment, but he added that currently most projects are undertaken by Chinese companies, so “there are not a lot of business opportunities for U.S. firms”. Jon Taylor, Professor of political science of the University of St. Thomas in Houston, however, said there are tremendous opportunities for U.S. businesses – if they are willing to put in the effort. Some U.S. companies, such as Chubb, General Electric and Caterpillar, all have publicly stated that they see the Belt and Road Initiative as an opportunity for business growth, he added.

Gordon Houlden, Director of the China Institute at the University of Alberta, Canada, said the plan is easily the single largest international program of trade and investment in the 21st century.

Former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was elected Chairman of the Boao Forum for Asia, replacing Yasuo Fukuda, the former Japanese Prime Minister. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Li Baodong was appointed BFA Secretary General, while former People’s Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan was designated as Vice Chairman and China’s Chief Representative to BFA. Of the 19-member BFA board, 12 are newly elected. Founded in 2001, the BFA is a non-governmental and non-profit organization committed to promoting regional economic integration and bringing Asian countries closer to their development goals.

World leaders attending the event included Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien-loong, Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Mongolian Prime Minister Ukhnaa Khurelsukh.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte paid an official visit to Beijing, where he held talks with his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang and met President Xi Jinping. He also attended and gave a speech at the Boao Forum for Asia in Hainan province. Business leaders of both countries signed 30 agreements during the visit in the fields of agriculture, health, waste management and green transport. Premier Li called on the Netherlands to take a greater role in the Belt and Road Initiative and promote negotiations on a bilateral investment treaty between China and the EU.

Prime Minister Rutte urged the U.S. and China to scale back their trade dispute, adding that the EU should be cautious about getting involved in the confrontation. “Trade tensions will help nobody,” Rutte told the South China Morning Post. “We are focusing on de-escalating tensions, we are calling on the US to make sure they work in the multilateral system and China to acknowledge where the trade imbalances are,” he said in Hong Kong, prior to his visit to Beijing. He also urged the U.S. to use the World Trade Organization (WTO) to resolve its trade disputes.

China and the Netherlands plan to deepen cooperation in such fields as modern agriculture, energy preservation, environmental protection and urbanization this year, according to Yu Jianlong, Secretary General of the Beijing-based China Chamber of International Commerce. The bilateral trade volume between China and the Netherlands grew by 16.5% year-on-year to USD78.38 billion in 2017, and China remained the Netherlands’ third-largest trade partner after Germany and the United Kingdom. Goods trade between the two countries also jumped 19% year-on-year to USD13.32 billion in the first two months of this year.

China mainly exports manufacturing equipment, port cranes, steel, wind power products, electronics, textiles, garments and household appliances to the Netherlands. The Netherlands mainly exports dairy and other agricultural products, water treatment equipment, chemical and pharmaceutical goods, mechanical equipment, transport materials and tobacco to China. To bolster the growing trade between the two countries, several Chinese cities such as Nanchang, Yiwu and Chengdu have operated regular freight trains to Rotterdam in the Netherlands since 2015.

“Biomedicines, new materials, high-end equipment, and science and technology services will be the hot areas for businesses from the Netherlands to invest in China in the next stage,” said Sun Fuquan, Researcher at the Beijing-based Chinese Academy of Science and Technology for Development. Following the acquisition of Rainbow Biotechnology Co (China) in Inner Mongolia last November, Royal DSM will launch a new innovation center in Tongxiang, Zhejiang province, this year. AkzoNobel expects its business growth in the Chinese market to “maintain the current momentum” in the future as China is one of the company’s most important markets, accounting for approximately 12% of its total revenue each year, according to Lin Liangqi, President of AkzoNobel China.

Dutch dairy firm Royal Friesland Campina plans to invest €100 million in the China market this year, CEO Hein Schumacher said in Beijing. The investment will be used to expand the production and sales channels of Friso, the company’s high-end infant and toddler formula brand, and further expand its sales in smaller Chinese cities, as it projected that about 50% of its future growth in China will come from third to sixth-tier cities. In 2017, Friesland Campina sold between 20,000 and 30,000 metric tons of Friso and Friso Prestige infant and toddler formula in China. This year, it aims to sell more than 30,000 tons of the products and launch more new consumer dairy products such as cheese.

Technology transfers have been voluntary commercial transactions between Chinese and U.S. companies and the U.S. accusation of transfers being forced by China is groundless and violates international trade principles, Chinese experts said. The United States has accused China of using shareholding restrictions and administrative permissions to force U.S. firms to transfer their technology to Chinese partners. The issue has been used as a justification by the Trump administration for its trade fight with China under Section 301 of the U.S. Trade Act of 1974, which permits a response to trade practices deemed unfair, unreasonable or discriminatory. Chinese experts said technology transfers between Chinese and foreign companies are done through commercial contracts and are conducted on an equal and voluntary basis.

Zhang Yalin, Member of the National Manufacturing Strategy Advisory Committee, said foreign companies’ ties with Chinese firms have been driven by business interests, and they have helped them gain access to the Chinese market and abundant labor. “Technology transfers have been based on mutual agreements between Chinese and foreign companies,” Zhang said, adding that in many cases they have been carried out in the form of a paid license for usage and have not involved transfers of technology ownership. “Technology offerings have been a means for foreign companies to obtain market share and investment returns in China. Many of the technologies were no longer core or advanced technologies and had almost no application prospects in their home markets,” Zhang said.

Chinese experts have argued that the Made in China 2025 initiative is aimed at upgrading China’s industrial and high-end manufacturing capability and it offers win-win results for Chinese and foreign companies. “Many multinational companies have set up their global R&D centers in China to take full advantage of local high-quality labor and innovative resources. It has helped boost their own business development,” Zhang said.

Xiong Meng, Executive Vice Chairman of the China Federation of Industrial Economics, said China’s industrial upgrades provide an immense market for developed countries’ high-end manufacturing equipment, spare parts and advanced materials. The Made in China 2025 initiative aims to boost China’s manufacturing capability and to attract investment in technological innovation, and it does not involve any forced rules and regulations, Xiong said, as reported by the China Daily.

CHJ Auto, the Beijing-based electric-start-up founded by internet entrepreneur Li Xiang, has teamed up with Didi Chuxing, the market leader in China’s on-demand transportation market, to develop the first car designed specifically for ride-pooling. “The goal of our cooperation is to bring down trip costs, the lower the better. In just two years, Chinese ride-sharers will see a significant step-up in services,” Li said.

CHJ is among the electric car start-ups that have sprouted up in recent years after the Chinese government started handing out special manufacturing permits to non-traditional carmakers with the aim of injecting innovation and competition. These tech-savvy start-ups are chasing a vision of clean, connected and self-driving vehicles, inspired by Tesla Motors’s Elon Musk. With the Didi tie-up, CHJ plans to develop a luxury seven-seater SUV targeting mid- to high-end users, with deliveries slated for next year. Ride-hailing has changed the concept of car ownership in China, especially among the young, who are used to traffic jams and waiting for years to obtain a car license plate in a major city like Beijing.

Ride-hailing orders have increased to almost 30 million a day in a market dominated by Didi, which elbowed Uber out of China after an expensive subsidy war. Li Xiang thinks the market could grow another tenfold by 2030, with ride-sharing accounting for half of all commutes. Founded in 2015, CHJ closed its B round of fundraising last month, raising CNY3 billion from a group of investors led by Matrix Partner China and Shouting Fund. The total amount of financing has reached CNY5.75 billion and is expected to surpass CNY10 billion by the year end. CHJ has two manufacturing facilities in Changzhou, Jiangsu province, and an annual production capacity of 80 million battery cells, the South China Morning Post reports.