On January 28, 2021, the first event of 2021 China Development Forum, "China Development Forum – Roundtable with Hainan ", was held both online and offline. Feng Fei, Governor of Hainan Province, and Long Guoqiang, Vice President of the Development Research Center of the State Council, attended the meeting and delivered a speech respectively in Haikou and Beijing. Shen Danyang, Vice Governor of Hainan Province, attended the meeting. Lu Mai, Vice Chairman of China Development Research Foundation and Secretary General of China Development Forum, chaired the meeting. More than 70 representatives from over 40 multinational companies attended the forum online and offline.

Provincial and city oriented events are a traditional part of the China Development Forum. In recent years, the Forum, focusing on the current policy and cooperating with the governments of Wuhan, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Xiongan and other provinces and regions, organized multinational enterprises visit and exchanges to the local areas, held discussions with local government leaders and relevant departments, and promoted the mutually beneficial development of the enterprises and the locals.

On June 1, 2020, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the General Plan for the Construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port, supporting Hainan to gradually explore and steadily promote the construction of a free trade port with Chinese characteristics. Against the background of rising anti-globalization and the COVID-19 pandemic, the acceleration of the constructing the Hainan Free Trade Port is of great practical significance. At the beginning of 2021, the secretariat of the Forum will continue to adhere to the purpose of "seeking common development through dialogue with the world" and cooperate with the Hainan Provincial Government to hold the Hainan Roundtable to facilitate the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port, introducing preferential policies and business environment to multinational enterprises, so as to promote the practical cooperation between Hainan and multinational enterprises.

Long Guoqiang, Vice President of the Development Research Center of the State Council, said at the roundtable that the cooperation between China Development Forum and Hainan Province in hosting the roundtable is not only a reflection of the purpose of the forum, but also a concrete action to commit to the national strategy, building the Hainan Free Trade Port with open cooperation. Multinational enterprises are highly concerned with and wish to set up in Hainan. The holders hope that this roundtable can answer the needs of multinational enterprises to learn about Hainan's innovative measures to build the free trade port and to attain a higher extent of opening up, providing opportunities for multinational enterprises to cooperate with Hainan.

Vice President of the Development Research Center of the State Council Long Guoqiang

Feng Fei, governor of Hainan Province, pointed out that Hainan has achieved the growth of "doubling" from four aspects in the past year: the doubling of new market entities in Hainan; the doubling of actual utilization of foreign capital for three consecutive years; the doubling of the number of talent brought in; the doubling of visitors’ duty-free shopping. Hainan has been increasingly attractive for capitals from home and abroad. In the Hainan Free Trade Port, the policy of "five freedoms and convenience, and safe and orderly flow" will be implemented, including freedom and convenience in trade, investment, cross-border capital flow, personnel flow and transport flow, and safe and orderly transmission of data.

Governor of Hainan Province Feng Fei

Feng Fei expressed the hope that multinational enterprises from all over the world will make full use of the advantages of Hainan's policy environment, ecological environment and business environment, fully involved in the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port, sharing the new opportunities in the development of the Hainan Free Trade Port. Feng Fei also responded to the concerns of the delegates on the free trade port policy, ocean carbon sink, talent introduction, intellectual property protection and other issues.

Lu Mai, secretary-general of China Development Forum, said in preside over the meeting that the roundtable has provided a deeper understanding on the background and significance of the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port and specific measures. The investment opportunities in Hainan resembles those of Shenzhen in the 1980s and Pudong in the 1990s. He expressed hope that entrepreneurs will seize this opportunity and invest in Hainan.

Secretary-general of China Development Forum Lu Mai

In recent years, Hainan has transformed itself into an important trade and investment destination for China and has produced valuable experience in its development for the rest of China and the world to learn, said the Chairman and CEO of Pfizer Albert Bourla.

Zhu Yonghuan, vice president and general manager of Johnson Controls China, hopes to take advantage of the enterprise’ own to actively participate in the construction of Hainan in the fields of green and sustainable development, digitalization and smart building. At the same time, it will strengthen the cooperation with Hainan in scientific and technological innovation and actively promote the integration of digital economy and real economy in association with its local partners.

Li Tong, CEO of BOC International, said that the Hainan Free Trade Port enjoys unique advantages in terms of the carrying capacity of the industry and the space for utilizing foreign investment. BOC International has helped Chinese companies raise nearly $1 trillion investments overseas over the years and are hoping to become an impetus for Hainan’s development.

After the roundtable, the enterprise representatives attending offline visited Haikou Jiangdong New District and Haikou National High-tech Zone.