The Hainan Free Trade Port embraced the coming of the first international bank on Dec.6 as the Haikou branch of HSBC Bank (China) Co Ltd officially opened for business on the tropical island.

The new branch will give financial support to Hainan province to help it build into a high-level free trade port, create an intersection promoting China's dual-circulation development paradigm, and help domestic and overseas companies grasp trade opportunities brought by the development of the FTP, HSBC said.

"The Hainan Free Trade Port is one of the best examples of China continuously opening up its markets and deeply integrating into the global economy. Backed by a super-sized domestic market, Hainan, which combines the location advantage of connecting China with ASEAN, and policy advantages from building the FTP, is striving to become an important intersection promoting China's dual-circulation strategy," said Mark Wang, president and chief executive officer of HSBC Bank (China) Co Ltd.

The new branch of HSBC will focus on corporate banking and will offer a wide range of financial solutions, including working capital loans, project financing and trade financing, in both renminbi and foreign currencies.

"The effort of setting up a branch in Haikou, capital of Hainan province, shows HSBC's confidence in China's economic development and commitment to continuously investing in the country. This will allow us to give full play to our advantages in building a bridge between East and West, to serve the construction of the Hainan FTP, and to provide financial assistance to China in promoting a higher-level opening-up," Wang said.

Hainan showed robust vitality thanks to its comprehensive deepening of reform and opening-up in the past three years. During this period, the number of new market entities in Hainan was 763,000, surpassing the total over the last 30 years. The total amount of the Hainan FTP's actual use of foreign capital reached $5.27 billion, also exceeding half of the total over the last 30 years, Shen Xiaoming, secretary of the Hainan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, said at a news conference in April.

Hainan is planning to preliminarily establish a financial system which adapts to a high-level free trade port by 2025. It is expected that the value added of the financial sector of Hainan province will hit 100 billion yuan ($15.7 billion) in 2025; the financial sector will contribute 10 percent to the provincial GDP; and the number of all types of financial institutions will reach 1,000, said the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) for the development of the financial industry of Hainan province.

"With the implementation of policies on the Hainan Free Trade Port, its economic development as well as foreign economic and trade exchanges have sped up continuously. In the first half, Hainan province's actual use of foreign capital increased by more than 600 percent year-on-year and the province is becoming a hot destination for foreign investment in China," said Xia Ran, manager of HSBC Bank (China) Co Ltd's Haikou branch.

"By setting up a branch in Haikou, we'll be able to better serve the growing demand for cross-border financial services in the FTP, support local companies to expand their business in overseas markets and assist Hainan in attracting more quality international companies and foreign investment," Xia said.

In 1988, Hong Kong-based Nanyang Commercial Bank Ltd established its Haikou branch, becoming the first foreign-invested bank to set up a branch in Hainan province.