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HainanInc

Prefecture-level city (地级市)

Haikou

The provincial capital, and the default answer for a foreign business that needs proximity to the authorities its filings pass through.

海口市 · Part of Haikou integrated economic circle

Haikou is Hainan's administrative centre and its largest urban economy. The provincial government sits here, as do the bureaux that register foreign-invested entities, assess encouraged-industry status, and administer the work and residence permits that follow. For most foreign investors this proximity is the deciding factor: the distance between a question and an answer is shorter here than anywhere else on the island.

The city's own industrial direction is services rather than manufacturing — business and professional services, digital trade, finance, and the software and information industries clustered in and around the city. Its 2026 investment programme is weighted towards exactly this soft infrastructure: an international business service centre and an international digital trade port, rather than heavy plant.

Haikou is divided into four districts, and which one you are in matters more than newcomers expect. The port is in Xiuying, the airport and the new Jiangdong development are in Meilan, the central business district is in Longhua, and the national high-tech zone is in Qiongshan. Each is profiled below.

At a glance

Administrative tier
Prefecture-level city (地级市)
Role
Provincial capital and administrative seat
Economic circle
Haikou integrated economic circle (海澄文定)
Districts
Four — Xiuying, Longhua, Qiongshan, Meilan
Principal gateway
Haikou Meilan International Airport (HAK)

What it is being built for

Business and professional services

Legal, accounting, consulting, corporate services and headquarters functions — the sector the city's own investment programme is most explicitly building for.

Digital trade and information services

Cross-border digital trade, software and data services, anchored by the Hainan Ecological Software Park and the Fuxingcheng internet information industry park.

Finance and trade

Trading companies, settlement and treasury functions taking advantage of the Free Trade Port's cross-border regime, close to the regulators that supervise it.

Aviation and logistics

Air-freight-dependent business built around Meilan, and the bonded operations of Haikou Comprehensive Bonded Zone.

Free Trade Port zones located here

  • Haikou Jiangdong New District (海口江东新区)

    The city's modern services priority zone and its principal new-build district.

  • Haikou Comprehensive Bonded Zone (海口综合保税区)

    Bonded processing, warehousing and cross-border trade under customs supervision.

  • Haikou National High-Tech Industrial Development Zone (海口国家高新技术产业开发区)

    Pharmaceuticals, advanced manufacturing and high-technology industry.

  • Fuxingcheng Internet Information Industry Park (复兴城互联网信息产业园)

    Digital economy, software and information services.

Getting things and people in and out

Air
Haikou Meilan International Airport (HAK) — the island's principal international gateway, under a phased expansion programme
Sea
Haikou Port, including the Xiuying and Macun terminals
Rail
Hainan ring high-speed railway — a continuous loop of more than 600 km around the island
Mainland link
Qiongzhou Strait ferry crossing to Zhanjiang, Guangdong — the island's road and rail link to the mainland

How the incentives apply here

  • The island-wide Free Trade Port incentives — zero-tariff goods, 15% corporate income tax for encouraged industries with substantive operations, 15% capped individual income tax for qualifying talent — all apply here.
  • Several of Haikou's key zones carry delegated provincial approval powers, which in practice shortens the administrative path for businesses registered inside them rather than merely in the city.
  • Encouraged-industry status is assessed against the published catalogue and a ≥60% main-business-income test, and substantive operation is assessed on management, staff, accounts and assets actually located in Hainan.

Who this place suits

  • Foreign investors establishing their first Chinese entity who want the shortest administrative distance to the authorities deciding their file
  • Professional services, headquarters and holding functions
  • Digital trade, software and information businesses
  • Any business whose operating model depends on frequent international air links

Districts

Haikou is divided into 4 districts (市辖区). Which one an operation sits in decides its neighbours, its infrastructure and, where a key park is involved, the policy framework it can register under.

District (市辖区)

Xiuying秀英区

Haikou's port district, and the island's road and rail connection to the Chinese mainland.

Xiuying occupies Haikou's western side and contains the city's main port facilities. The Qiongzhou Strait crossing to Zhanjiang in Guangdong runs from here — the ferry link that carries road and rail traffic between the island and the mainland, and the reason Xiuying matters to anyone moving physical goods.

The district's economy is correspondingly weighted towards port logistics, warehousing and distribution, alongside a substantial residential and light-industrial base.

At a glance

Administrative tier
District (市辖区)
Parent city
Haikou
Role
Port and mainland gateway

What it is being built for

Port logistics and distribution

Warehousing, freight forwarding and inland distribution built around Haikou Port.

Light industry

Manufacturing and processing with a mainland-facing distribution model.

Free Trade Port zones located here

No Free Trade Port key park is designated in this division. Businesses here rely on the island-wide regime rather than a zone-specific one — which is a real difference, not a formality.

Getting things and people in and out

Sea
Haikou Port — Xiuying terminal
Mainland link
Qiongzhou Strait ferry crossing to Zhanjiang, Guangdong
Rail
Hainan ring high-speed railway — a continuous loop of more than 600 km around the island

How the incentives apply here

  • Island-wide Free Trade Port incentives apply; there is no district-level incentive layer distinct from Haikou's.

Who this place suits

  • Distribution and logistics operations moving goods between Hainan and the mainland
  • Businesses whose cost base is sensitive to port proximity

District (市辖区)

Longhua龙华区

Haikou's central business district and the seat of the provincial government.

Longhua is the commercial and administrative heart of Haikou. The provincial government and the majority of provincial bureaux sit here, along with the city's densest concentration of offices, banks and professional firms.

For a foreign business, Longhua is where the meetings happen. It is the natural location for a representative office, a headquarters function, or any operation whose principal input is proximity to decision-makers and advisers rather than to cargo.

At a glance

Administrative tier
District (市辖区)
Parent city
Haikou
Role
Central business district; provincial government seat

What it is being built for

Professional and financial services

Legal, accounting, advisory, banking and insurance functions.

Headquarters and holding functions

Regional headquarters, holding companies and management entities.

Free Trade Port zones located here

  • Fuxingcheng Internet Information Industry Park (复兴城互联网信息产业园)

    Digital economy, software and information services, in central Haikou.

Getting things and people in and out

Air
Haikou Meilan International Airport, in neighbouring Meilan district
Rail
Hainan ring high-speed railway — a continuous loop of more than 600 km around the island

How the incentives apply here

  • Island-wide Free Trade Port incentives apply. Businesses registered inside Fuxingcheng access that park's own supporting policies in addition.

Who this place suits

  • Professional services firms and advisers
  • Headquarters, holding and management entities
  • Digital and information businesses wanting a central-city address

District (市辖区)

Qiongshan琼山区

Haikou's high-technology and pharmaceutical manufacturing district.

Qiongshan is Haikou's southern and largest district, and the location of the Haikou National High-Tech Industrial Development Zone — the city's principal site for pharmaceutical manufacturing, advanced manufacturing and high-technology industry.

It is also the historic core of the old Qiongshan city, absorbed into Haikou, which gives the district a mix of established urban area and substantial land for industrial development that the more built-up northern districts do not have.

At a glance

Administrative tier
District (市辖区)
Parent city
Haikou
Role
High-technology and pharmaceutical manufacturing

What it is being built for

Pharmaceuticals and biotechnology

Manufacturing and R&D within the national high-tech zone.

Advanced manufacturing

High-technology industry with access to Haikou's logistics and talent base.

Free Trade Port zones located here

  • Haikou National High-Tech Industrial Development Zone (海口国家高新技术产业开发区)

    Pharmaceuticals, advanced manufacturing and high-technology industry.

Getting things and people in and out

Air
Haikou Meilan International Airport
Rail
Hainan ring high-speed railway — a continuous loop of more than 600 km around the island

How the incentives apply here

  • The national high-tech zone is one of the Free Trade Port's designated key parks, carrying its own industrial supporting policy alongside the island-wide incentives.
  • Pharmaceutical and high-technology activities feature prominently in the encouraged-industries catalogue that governs the 15% corporate income tax rate.

Who this place suits

  • Pharmaceutical and biotechnology manufacturers
  • High-technology manufacturing needing industrial land close to the capital

District (市辖区)

Meilan美兰区

Haikou's airport district, and the site of Jiangdong New District — the city's largest new-build development.

Meilan holds Haikou's two most consequential pieces of infrastructure for a foreign business: Meilan International Airport, the island's principal international gateway, and Jiangdong New District, the modern-services key zone being built east of the Nandu River.

Jiangdong is where much of Haikou's new office and headquarters capacity is going, and it is designated as a modern-services priority zone within the Free Trade Port's key-park framework. The Haikou Comprehensive Bonded Zone also sits in this district.

For businesses whose model depends on air freight, frequent international travel, or bonded warehousing, Meilan is usually the right answer within Haikou.

At a glance

Administrative tier
District (市辖区)
Parent city
Haikou
Role
International gateway; modern-services new district

What it is being built for

Modern services

Headquarters, finance and professional services within Jiangdong New District.

Bonded trade and processing

Operations inside Haikou Comprehensive Bonded Zone.

Aviation-linked business

Air freight, aviation services and travel-dependent operations.

Free Trade Port zones located here

  • Haikou Jiangdong New District (海口江东新区)

    Modern services priority zone — headquarters, finance and professional services.

  • Haikou Comprehensive Bonded Zone (海口综合保税区)

    Bonded processing, warehousing and cross-border trade.

Getting things and people in and out

Air
Haikou Meilan International Airport (HAK), under a phased expansion programme
Rail
Hainan ring high-speed railway — a continuous loop of more than 600 km around the island

How the incentives apply here

  • Two designated key parks sit in this district, each with its own supporting policy on top of the island-wide Free Trade Port incentives.
  • The comprehensive bonded zone operates under customs supervision, which interacts with — and is not replaced by — the island-wide zero-tariff regime.

Who this place suits

  • Headquarters and modern-services businesses wanting new-build premises
  • Bonded warehousing, processing and cross-border trade
  • Any operation for which international air connectivity is a first-order requirement

Last reviewed September 2026. This page is general information about the Hainan Free Trade Port, not legal, tax or investment advice. Eligibility for every incentive described here turns on facts specific to your entity, your industry classification and your substance in Hainan. Nothing on this page should be relied on without advice on your own position.

Considering Haikou? Speak with an expert about what establishing there actually involves.

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