Hainan Lockdown, Singapore Can't Stand It Anymore Today, the Whole World Focuses on One Island.

Hainan Lockdown, a free trade port eight times larger than Dubai, thirty times larger than Hong Kong, and fifty times larger than Singapore, has officially been born.
But many people still don't understand, what does Hainan's lockdown have to do with us ordinary people? Is it just bigger duty-free shops, more luxury goods to buy, or even that we will need a visa to go to Hainan in the future?
Actually, your imagination can be even bigger. Today's Hainan will not follow the old paths of Hong Kong, Singapore, or Dubai.
What Hainan aims to do is to become the world's largest and most unique free trade port. Lockdown is to open a bigger door.
Hainan's lockdown on the first day exploded, with an iPhone potentially saving up to 2,140 yuan (duty-free price plus coupons).
But more important than shopping is that Hainan is about to change Singapore's fate. First, it must be clarified that Hainan's lockdown is not about locking down people.
In the future, you can still sunbathe in Sanya and shop at Haikou Duty-Free City without any obstacles.
But the land beneath your feet is no longer the same: it may become the new super transfer hub of Asia-Pacific, challenging Singapore's decades-long position as the "Transfer King." Why do I say that? The key lies in those four words: opening up at the front line. It should be noted that after Hainan's lockdown, 6,600 items can be imported duty-free, from high-tech scientific equipment to daily consumer goods, with almost no barriers to entry in Hainan. Clearly, this has disturbed Singapore's cheese. Previously, Singapore relied on its unique geographical location to become a must-stop service station for global cargo.
In 2024, just through transit trade between China and Indonesia, service fees reached $57 billion, more than half of Hainan's GDP. But in the future, Thai durians, Norwegian salmon, and French perfumes may all choose to transit through Hainan due to zero tariffs. They add fuel and have a meal, and Hainan's economy will develop rapidly. However, Hainan will not become "the next Singapore"; its ambition is far from just being a "transshipment hub."
What did Hainan rely on for development in the past? Tourism, real estate, agriculture—relying on natural resources and land to make money. But in the future, Hainan's industrial upgrade will no longer wait for the wind but will actively create wind currents. Zero tariffs is a "most powerful lever" that Hainan offers to enterprises. It can use lower costs to leverage high-end industries and global markets that were previously unimaginable. A chip company building a factory here and importing lithography machines could save over 100 million yuan directly, with finished products sold back to the mainland or exported globally.
As a result, more than 170 countries and regions' companies have already set foot here. Two months before lockdown, Hainan ramped up investment, signing over 100 billion in just four days: CATL increased its investment in its Hainan subsidiary, with registered capital soaring from 2 million to 10 billion; Ant Group's additional investment reached 3.5 billion, nearly 350 times the previous amount.
The speed of capital inflow has fully revealed Hainan's ambitions. Some may say, with such low duty-free costs, will someone just rebrand duty-free goods and sell them to the mainland at low prices, engaging in dumping? Will Hainan repeat the old path of "processing and assembling" that Shenzhen took forty years ago?
This must be addressed by the repeatedly emphasized "second-line control": only goods with genuine processing and value-added exceeding 30% in Hainan can enjoy duty-free entry into the mainland. This red line policy safeguards the quality of industrial upgrading. In other words, simple branding and packaging won't work in Hainan. This is also a "killer move" aimed at global capital: whether you produce French bags, German machinery, or Dutch lithography machines, if produced abroad, you must pay VAT when selling to mainland China. But what if produced in Hainan? As long as the value-added exceeds 30%, it is directly duty-free.
This could save over 10% in costs, dramatically increase profit margins, and attract countless capital. Hainan has also made it clear that it will not focus on re-export trade and processing manufacturing but will concentrate on four major sectors: tourism, modern services, high-tech industries, and tropical high-efficiency agriculture, and target three future industries: seed industry, deep-sea, and aerospace.
Do not doubt Hainan's own capabilities; it is not relying on itself but acting as an "incubator" and "training ground" to attract high-end manufacturing capabilities globally. So, in the future, when you come to Hainan, besides sunshine, beaches, and waves, you will increasingly see: in Wenchang International Aerospace City, commercial space rockets lining up for launch; in Sanya Yazhou Bay laboratories, seeds being genetically modified; in Boao Lecheng medical wards, world-leading medicines and devices creating miracles of life; all pointing to one fact: Hainan is changing not the track, but the life script.
If you are looking for opportunities, today's Hainan needs people more than ever. Qualified talents and senior executives are taxed at a maximum personal income tax rate of 15%. If you are a tourist, you will witness a truly global shopping paradise. If you are a Hainan local, you will see a brand-new hometown: airports, streets, and networks will be systematically upgraded, and the flow of people and money on this island will form a closed loop. In the next ten years, Hainan will always be at the forefront, moving with the wind, with limitless prospects. The interesting thing about this era is that it always gives determined people new tickets to enter. This time, Hainan will write its name into the next chapter of history with its own hands. Defying the heavens and changing destiny, this is the moment to fight for it. #Participate in Creator Certification Program, earn $10,000 monthly