Rapid initial expansion, then years of retrenching followed by renewed economic vigor in Hainan province resulted in a combined 84.25 million tons in imports and imports with a value of $40 billion over the past 20 years.

According to data from the customs office in the provincial capital Haikou, trade has increased 14.7 times over 1988, when the island-wide special economic zone was established.

Hainan approved 9,300 overseas-funded projects totaling $11.5 billion in direct foreign investment in the two decades.