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MNI BRIEF: China’s Hainan To Launch “Tourist Wallet”

MNI (Beijing)

China’s southern province of Hainan will launch a “tourist wallet” allowing inbound visitors to exchange foreign currency into electronic renminbi on their mobile phones, which can be used at any location where Alipay and WeChat are available, Liu Xiaoming, deputy Secretary of the Hainan Provincial Party Committee told reporters on Thursday.

Liu said preparations were in full swing to close off the islands’ customs operations in line with plans to open up a free trade zone covering the entire province.

China plans to invest hundreds of billions of yuan in building up the world’s largest free-trade port in Southeast Hainan by 2025, a high-ranking provincial official told MNI (See MNI INTERVIEW: Hainan Bonds To Fund World's Largest Freeport)

China will use Hainan as a testing ground for the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) trade rules before it considers rolling them out across the country. (See MNI INTERVIEW 2: Hainan To Act As CPTPP Test Zone)
MNI Beijing Bureau | lewis.porylo@marketnews.com
MNI Beijing Bureau | lewis.porylo@marketnews.com

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