Hainan Free Trade Port is the future of globalization

For decades, globalization was widely accepted as an almost inevitable trajectory. The more open an economy, the prevailing logic held, the greater its prospects for growth. Frictionless ports, low tariffs, investment deregulation, and unrestricted capital flows were treated as the essential ingredients of economic advancement. Countries competed to become nodes of global trade, dismantling barriers and entrusting economic outcomes largely to the forces of the global market.

Over the past decade, however, it has become increasingly evident that this earlier model of globalization no longer delivers on its promises. The 2008 global financial crisis, the Covid-19 pandemic, trade wars, rising geopolitical tensions and accelerating technological fragmentation have exposed the fragility of unfiltered openness.

Excessive dependence on global supply chains has created and exposed strategic vulnerabilities rather than resilience. As a result, major economies are turning against the once-dominant assumption that economic openness is synonymous with strength.

China’s Hainan Free Trade Port acquires its strategic significance in this shifting landscape. Much of the commentary surrounding Hainan has been narrowly framed, whether it will rival Singapore, or whether it will emerge as Asia’s next dominant port.

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Hainan Free Trade Port will reshape trade flows in region and beyond