Editor’s Note
This article highlights how policy initiatives, such as those under the Hainan Free Trade Port, are transforming local industries. By leveraging favorable policies, businesses like Hainan Jingrui Pearl Technology Co., Ltd. are enhancing value chains—turning raw materials into high-end products for broader markets. It underscores the role of strategic governance in fostering economic growth and innovation.
In the soft lighting of the production workshop at Hainan Jingrui Pearl Technology Co., Ltd., seawater pearls sourced from Indonesia, the Philippines, and other regions flow through the skilled hands of workers. After processes like sorting, designing, and inlaying, they are transformed into exquisite pieces of jewelry, shipped from Hainan to markets across mainland China.
Since the island-wide customs closure of the Hainan Free Trade Port, the continuous release of policy dividends such as “zero tariff, low tax rates, and simplified tax systems,” along with trade and investment liberalization and facilitation measures, has attracted pearl industry chain enterprises to gather here, driving the industry’s upgrade towards high-end and internationalization.
In the past, relatively high import tariffs were a challenge for enterprises importing pearl raw materials.
said Lin Zhicheng, deputy general manager of Hainan Jingrui Pearl Technology Co., Ltd., in a recent interview with a China News Service reporter.
The turning point began with the implementation of the “Domestic Sales of Goods with Value-Added Processing Exempt from Import Tariff” policy in the Hainan Free Trade Port. This policy encourages industrial enterprises; if the value added in Hainan for goods containing imported materials exceeds 30%, they can be exempt from import tariffs when entering the mainland via the “second line.”
On the first day of the Hainan Free Trade Port’s island-wide customs closure, Hainan Hairui Pearl Co., Ltd. (referred to as “Hairui Pearl”) completed a batch of import value-added processing duty-free business for pearls. The company’s chairman, Zhang Shizhong, gave reporters an account: This batch of seawater pearls imported from Japan, valued at 101,000 yuan (Renminbi, same below), leveraged this policy to reduce the comprehensive tax rate at the import stage from 51.92% to 25.56%. After processing and sales to the mainland, it is estimated to save costs by about 26,000 yuan.
said Lin Zhicheng, adding that what benefits enterprises even more are the customs facilitation measures.
Addressing pain points reported by enterprises, such as the need for pearl valuation piece by piece and complex declaration procedures, customs authorities innovatively launched a “two-step declaration” model. This allows enterprises to pick up goods without needing to fill in all declaration items at once, significantly improving logistics turnover efficiency. Lin Zhicheng said this has changed the company’s previous procurement model via Hong Kong as a third party, establishing direct procurement channels with high-end pearl suppliers from Australia, Myanmar, the Philippines, and other places, further reducing procurement costs.
The policy dividends not only benefit the pearl industry but also extend to细分领域 such as jade and coral in the jewelry sector. Recently, a batch of jade carvings processed from imported Russian jade raw materials by Hainan Wuse Guangwen Culture Development Co., Ltd.顺利通关 at the “second-line port” of Haikou Meilan Airport, becoming the first batch of jade products落地 under the value-added processing policy after the closure of the Hainan Free Trade Port.
As a core entity deployed in Hainan by Hong Kong’s Yuk Lun Holdings Group, the company is building a coral and jade industrial park covering 93 acres in Jiangdong New District, Haikou. It aims to create a specialized industrial cluster integrating international coral蜜蜡 trade, jade raw material trade, storage, processing, trading, design, cultural tourism, and inspection and appraisal, achieving full-chain coverage from raw material import to finished product circulation.
The industrial agglomeration effect is also evident in Sanya Yazhou Bay Science and Technology City. Hairui Pearl is accelerating the construction of the Golden Jewelry Industrial Park, expanding the full-process production capacity of “precious metal molding + pearl inlaying + product refinement.” It is actively cooperating with the Guangdong Jewelry and Jade Trading Center to开展 bonded trading, linking industrial resources from the Greater Bay Area to form a pattern of regional协同 development.
A single pearl串连起 the chain from overseas procurement and Hainan processing to global sales, reflecting the broad prospects of the Hainan Free Trade Port in promoting industrial upgrading and connecting with international markets.
Leveraging the “zero tariff” advantage, Hairui Pearl more conveniently introduces全球优质 raw materials and advanced craftsmanship, enriching its high-end product lines. Simultaneously, Hainan jewelry enterprises are actively exploring the integrated development model of “industry + culture + tourism,”结合 the positioning of Hainan as an international tourism consumption center. They are creating new consumption scenarios integrating cultural exhibition, personalized customization, and immersive experiences, promoting the deep integration of jewelry culture with tourism consumption.
said Lin Zhicheng. In his view, relying on policy and区位 advantages, Hainan is expected to attract the aggregation of优质 resources from the global pearl industry chain, gradually developing into an international center for high-end pearl trade and design processing.
(by Zhang Xiaoyi)
