Southeast Asia Information Port News (www.dnyxxg.com) – On January 29th, Cai Qiang, Secretary-General of the Hainan Provincial Government and Director of the Provincial Department of Finance, stated in Haikou that after the Hainan Free Trade Port is fully sealed off, the finance department will steadily advance the reduction of the taxable goods catalog, pushing the coverage rate of "zero tariffs" in the Free Trade Port towards 90%, and creating a simplified taxable goods catalog.
On December 18, 2025, the Hainan Free Trade Port will officially commence customs operations, significantly expanding the scope of "zero tariff" goods from the original 1,900 tariff items to approximately 6,600 tariff items. The proportion of "zero tariff" goods tariff items will increase from 21% to 74%, continuously releasing the tax policy dividends of the Free Trade Port.
During an interview at the "Directors' Corridor" of the Fifth Session of the Seventh Hainan Provincial People's Congress, Cai Qiang stated that after the customs closure, Hainan will continue to steadily advance the construction of its free trade port tax system, creating a tax system with international competitiveness; simultaneously, by implementing a simplified tax system, it will effectively reduce the overall tax burden on enterprises and continuously optimize the business environment.
The "double 15%" policy for corporate income tax and personal income tax is a unique core policy advantage of the Hainan Free Trade Port. According to relevant notices issued by the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration, these two policies have been clearly extended to December 31, 2027. Recently, market entities have been paying close attention to the implementation direction of these policies after 2027.
"Such policy arrangements precisely release positive market expectations," Cai Qiang explained. The "Overall Plan for the Construction of Hainan Free Trade Port" has clearly defined the direction of tax reform in the free trade port. Corporate income tax will gradually shift from the current positive list industry catalog management to negative list management; personal income tax will implement three preferential tax rates of 3%, 10%, and 15%. He also revealed that the current "double 15%" policy will be valid until the end of 2027. After 2027, Hainan is highly likely to introduce more robust tax policies and reform plans.
"I also want to say to market entities that I hope everyone will strengthen their confidence in the policy dividends of the free trade port and boldly invest in Hainan, investing in the future," Cai Qiang sincerely appealed to market entities. (End)
