ChiFulin,presidentoftheChinaInstituteofReformandDevelopment,isoneofthefewpeopletoparticipateinChina鈥檚reformandopeningupandconstructionoftheHainanSpecialEconomicZone.byZhaoJun
鈥淭herewouldbenoHainantoday,anditcouldhavenotthrived,withoutreform,鈥漚ssertedChiFulin,presidentoftheHainan-basedChinaInstituteofReformandDevelopment(CIRD).
Attheendof1987,36-year-oldChiFulinwenttoHainanIsland,wherehejoinedpreparationsforthefoundingofHainanProvince.HebecamethefirstofficialfromthecentralgovernmentinBeijingtojoinsuchacampaign.
Sincethen,ChihasexperiencedtheentirebreadthofHainan鈥檚progressaspartoftheteammappingdevelopmentplansrangingfromtheproposaltoestablisha鈥渟pecialcustomsterritory鈥漣n1992totheconstructionofan鈥渋nternationaltourismisland鈥漣n2010.
HisuniqueexperiencehasmadehimoneofthefewrepresentativefigurestobecomedeeplyinvolvedinChina鈥檚reformandopeningupaswellastheconstructionoftheHainanSpecialEconomicZone(SEZ).
ChiFulinbecamewell-knownforhisresearchinthereformoftheeconomicsystem.Underhisleadership,theCIRD鈥攁onceperipheralacademicinstitution鈥攈asbecomeanimportanthubforChina鈥檚reformresearch.
In2018,asthecountrycelebratesthe40thanniversaryoftheimplementationofitsreformandopening-uppoliciesandHainanhonorsthe30thanniversaryoftheestablishmentoftheSEZ,ChihasponderedoverandsummarizedHainan鈥檚achievementsoverthepast30yearsandsethighergoalsandgreaterexpectationsforitsfuturedevelopment.
WhatdoyouthinkofthethreedecadesofdevelopmentoftheHainanSEZ?
ChiFulin(Chi):BeforeIarrivedinHainanIslandin1987,IwaslivinginnorthernChina,andimaginedtheislandalot.WhenIgotofftheplane,Iwassurprisedtofindtheplacehardlydeveloped:Haikoudidn鈥檛evenhavetrafficlights.Myimaginationhadbeenwayoff.Thatyear,Hainan鈥檚GDPwasaround20billionyuan,andlocalfiscalrevenuewaslessthan300millionyuan.
Overthepast30years,however,Hainanhasgrownfromarelativelysecludedislandintoaninternationaltourismdestinationandthecountry鈥檚largestSEZ鈥攚ithsprawlingstreetsfulloftrafficreachingineverydirection.IthasalsodevelopedfromarelativelybackwardregionintooneofChina鈥檚moreeconomicallydevelopedprovinces.In2017,Hainan鈥檚GDPsurpassed446billionyuan.
Thebiggestchangeisseenintheeverydaylivesoflocals.
Inthepast,thenaturalenvironmentinHainanwasgood,butthelivingstandardswerepoor,andtheislandwasplaguedbystarvation.
Today,Hainanhasseendramaticchangesinrealmsofeducation,medicalcare,health,ecology,incomelevelsandurbanandruralconstruction.
Optimismhasincreasedsignificantly.Overthepastfewdecades,Hainanhasattractedtalentfromalloverthecountrytoworkorstartabusiness.
1992:TwofemalestudentschatonastreetinHaikou,HainanProvince.Thecitywasunderrapiddevelopment.byHuangYiming/VCG
2002:VillagersinaremoteareaarepleasantlysurprisedbydrinkingwaterpumpedupfromadeepwellinHaikou.byHuangYiming/VCGWhatisthemostpreciousexperienceHainanhasgainedsincetheestablishmentoftheSEZ30yearsago?
Chi:Iwouldcitefourthings:First,thedevelopmentoftheislandeconomyrequiresopeningup.Asanislandeconomy,Hainanretainsacertaindegreeofinertiaandcloseness,whichmustbeovercomethroughanopenmodelthatreleasesitsinternaldrivingforces.Thisisdeterminedbythelawsoftheislandeconomy.
Second,institutionalreformsmustadapttotheopenmodel.Asanislandeconomy,Hainanhastoadaptitsinstitutionalmechanismtoanopenmodel鈥攖hepurposeofthereform.IthinktheislandshouldimplementreformsinaccordancewiththerequirementsofthecentralgovernmentofChinatocomprehensivelydeepenreforms.HainanshouldtakeadvantageofitsstatusasChina鈥檚largestSEZandmakemajorbreakthroughsinthereformandinnovationofitseconomicsystem,socialsystem,administrativesystemandecologicalconservationsystemtoformnewimpetusforsustainabledevelopment.
Third,thedevelopmentofanislandeconomyrequiresindustrialchoice.Theislandeconomyshouldchoosetheoptimalmodeforindustrialdevelopmentduringtheprocessofopeningup.Asaninternationaltourismisland,Hainanshouldmaketourismapillarindustry,butcurrentlytheindustryisstillinadequate:Tourismproductslackvariety,internationalizationisyetonitsway,andislandtourismisfarfromenoughtointegratewiththedevelopmentoftheservicetrade.
Fourth,thecoreofthedevelopmentoftheislandeconomyliesinstrategicpositioning.Theislandeconomycannotfocussolelyonitself.IfHainanIslandsetseyesonlyonitself,itdoesn鈥檛havemuchofanadvantage鈥攊tsstrategicpositioningisextremelyimportant.
Overthepastthreedecades,HainanhasgrownfromarelativelysecludedislandintoaninternationaltourismislandandthelargestspecialeconomiczoneinChina.VCGWhatrolehastheHainanSEZplayedinacceleratingeconomicandculturalexchangebetweenChinaandSoutheastAsia?
Chi:HainanislocatedonthecoastoftheSouthChinaSea,adjacenttoSoutheastAsiancountries,whichgivesitconvenientgeographicalconnections.
Inthepast,itservedasagatewayforChineseaccesstoSoutheastAsiancountriessuchasSingapore,ThailandandIndonesia.Now,thesecountrieshostaparticularlylargenumberofoverseasChinesefromHainan.Inaddition,HainanandSoutheastAsiasharealotofsimilaritiesinresources.
HainanplaysanimportantroleintheregionaleconomicintegrationofChinawithSoutheastAsia,andmuchroomforfuturedevelopmentremains.
EconomicdevelopmentoftheneighboringcountriesaroundtheSouthChinaSeadependsnotonlyontheChinesemarket,butalsoonthedevelopmentofChina.HainanhasbecomeanoffshorehubfortheconstructionoftheBeltandRoad.Now,Sanyaisbuildingalarge-scaleportforcruiseshipsthatserveSoutheastAsiancountries.
HainanshouldbecometheleadinghubofPan-SouthChinaSeacooperation.WhentheSouthChinaSeabecomesaseaofpeaceandcooperation,theneighboringcountrieswillbenefitfromChina鈥檚development.LocatedinHaikou,HainanProvince,theCenturyBridgemeasures2,664metersinlength.Itisalandmarkstructureandamajortouristattractionofthecity.byQinBinWhatopportunitiesdoyouseeforHainaninthenext30years?
Chi:Situatedatanewstartingpoint,Hainanisfacingthreemajornewopportunitiesandtakingonfourmajornewmissions.
Thethreemajornewopportunitiesare:implementationoftheBeltandRoadInitiative,developmentofanopeneconomyforthepromotionofanewpatternofcomprehensiveopeningup,andupgradingofChina鈥檚consumptionstructure.
Thefourmajornewmissionsare:
1.ExpandopeningupinthecontextoftheBeltandRoadInitiative.Asrequiredfortheconstructionofthe21stCenturyMaritimeSilkRoad,overthenextfewyears,HainanwillstrivetobecomeapioneeringareaforthedevelopmentandopeningupofPan-SouthChinaSeacooperationandbuildafreetradeeconomiccorridorconnectingPan-SouthChinaSeacountriesandregions.
2.Comprehensivelyfurtherreforms.Inthefuture,wemustcreatemoredynamicinstitutionalmechanisms.
3.Servenationalstrategy.Inthecomingyears,HainanshouldgivefullplaytoitsownstrengthandcontributeremarkablytobuildingChinaintoamaritimepower.
4.Achievegreendevelopment.Hainanenjoysprominentstrengthinecology.Wemustfocuson鈥済reeningup鈥漚nd鈥減rotectingblues,鈥漚ndblazeanewtrailforaharmoniousdevelopmentbetweenmanandnaturethroughnewmodels,newsystems,andnewmechanismsforgreendevelopmentandgreenlivingagainstthebackdropofeconomicreformandopeningup.
WemuststrivetobuildHainanintoahighlyinternationalizedandmoderntreasureislandby2049.
Specifically,themainindicatorsofHainan鈥檚economicandsocialdevelopmentshouldreachthelevelsofadvancedeconomies,itsgreendevelopmentshouldleadtheworld,andHainanshouldserveasapracticalexampleasChinabecomesagreatmodernsocialistcountry.
Istronglybelievethataslongasweadoptamoreopenmodelandmaintaingrowth,HainancancatchupwithorevenovertakeSingaporeineconomicdevelopmentinthenext30years.