Hainan: China’s Hawaii and World’s Largest Free Trade Zone

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Is Hainan the next Singapore?  Or a newer and bigger one? Questions like these have been bubbling up ever since Hainan Province, China’s only tropical island, became China’s largest Free Trade Zone. Often referred to as the “Hawaii of the Orient”, Hainan is not only the world’s most dynamic tourism destination with a projected 80 million Chinese domestic visitors alone in 2021 but also the largest “lab” of the latest sustainable development experiment of the Chinese government.  

Thanks to close collaborations with our friends at Arizona State University, USHCA is bringing a diverse set of experts to provide an introductory overview of Hainan province, its vision for a green and sustainable future, and business opportunities related to Free Trade Port and Free Trade Zone promotional incentives.

This event is part of USHCA’s ongoing series, The Way Forward, where we discuss different ideas and initiatives used by the US and China and how they can be applied to the Heartland region.

Panelist

Ms. Cui Huang

Hainan Provincial Bureau of International Economic Development

Ms. Cui Huang

Cui Huang joined the Trade Development Bureau of Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) after graduation from university in 2004. She had been working with MOFCOM for 16 years. Her main duties included:

--Organize multilateral or bilateral economic and trade exchanges to accompany high-level state visits

-- Expand contacts with overseas trade promotion agencies and carry out global cooperation

-- Support China-U.S. sub-national economic and trade cooperation

-- Hold national level expositions and promote import

From 2008-2011, Cui Huang worked at the Economic and Commercial Counsellor & Office of the Chinese Embassy in Israel as a diplomat, and focused on the promotion of bilateral trade and investment activities and cultural, technological and commercial exchanges between the two countries.

In June 2020, Cui Huang joined the Hainan Provincial Bureau of International Economic Development (IEDB) as the chief representative of its Beijing Office. She is representing IEDB in Beijing, and has been engaged in advertising FTP, developing relations with central government departments and broadening global network for IEDB, trying to help global investors better locate potential projects and partners in the free trade port.

Cui Huang Bio

Panelist

Doug Guthrie

Professor of Global Leadership and Director of China Initiatives at the Thunderbird School of Global Management at The Arizona State University

Doug Guthrie

Doug Guthrie has spent his career researching, writing, teaching, advising companies and coaching executives about two topics: organizational development, where he has focused on issues of leadership, organizational culture and corporate social responsibility in the areas of ESG and human rights; and the Chinese economic reforms, where he has focused on the intersection of economic and political forces that lead to successful economic development models and how companies can play an important role in balanced and peaceful relations between the world’s largest economies. His earliest days of lobbying, advocacy, and coaching surrounding US-China relations go back to the 1990s and the Most Favored Nation (MFN) and Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) debates, which ultimately led to China’s entry into the WTO.

Currently, he is Professor of Global Leadership at the Thunderbird School of Global Management, where his is also Director of China Initiatives. From 2014-19, Guthrie was a Senior Director at Apple, based in Shanghai China, where he led Apple University efforts on leadership and organizational development, and executive coaching in China and advised the company on risks related to dealing with the Chinese government. Prior to joining Apple, from 2010-14, Guthrie was Dean of the George Washington School of Business, Vice President for University China Operations, and Professor of Management and International Business.

From 1997-2010, he served on the faculty at NYU’s Stern School of Business, where he was Director of Executive Education, and has been a Visiting Professor at a number of different business schools, as well as a Program Director at the Social Science Research Council. He is the Co-Founder of On Global Leadership, a virtual think tank that provides thought leadership, advisory services, coaching and education about important issues on leadership in today’s global economy.

Doug Guthrie Bio

Panelist

Dr. Fuyu Yang

Researcher and Dean of Management in Sanya University

Dr. Fuyu Yang Bio

The researcher and Dean of Management in Sanya University, Project Consultant, expert and  volunteer of brain-trust in Sanya Blue Ribbon Ocean Conservation Association(BROCA,NGO). Major academic field is Sustainable Economic Development(SED), Blue&Green Designs in Business, Blue Economy, Sustainable R&D, Sustainable Cultural Diversity Conservation and Sustainable Education.

She worked for different universities(ZJCU,GBS,and Sanya University) and research institutions (Beijing New Century Research Institution and Silk Road Research Institution)over 10 years and provided consulting services for NGOs including BROCA and RENDU Ocean Association over 3 years. Some outstanding projects in SED and Blue Economy, Sustainable Cultural Diversity Conservation and sustainable public education had been finished successfully. The excellent professional reports, questionnaire designs& data analysis, and papers have been published by journals including EI Compendex (Study on the Evolution of Tourism Cultural Industrial Cluster in Hainan Province”,2017), European Research on Sustainable Development(“Study on the Evolution of Sustainable Culture Industrial Cluster in Hainan Province”,2018) and Environments(The Public Benefits Organizations : The Indispensable Power in Ocean Conservation,2020). A team was organized as a initiator and partner to design mobile games for public sustainable education in economic development, ocean conservation and cultural diversity conservation in 2020.

Dr. Fuyu Yang Bio

Panelist

Charlotte Magnette

International Investment Manager at Sanya FTZ Yazhou Bay Sciences and Technology City

Charlotte Magnette

After a master degree in Ancient Oriental Languages from the University of Louvain, Belgium (UCL), I received a scholarship to study Chinese language and culture in Beijing Communication University (北京交通大学) for 2 years (2012-2014).

I worked in Europe (Norway and Belgium) for two year in Cultural institutions and Art galleries as gallery assistant, handling cross-culture projects related to China (art exhibition, exchange programs and visit of Chinese art representant in Europe)

In 2016, I went back to China in Hainan Island to work for the first all-inclusive hotel of Sanya from the French brand ClubMed as foreign customer service manager. This experience working in high-end hospitality gave me a deep understanding of the luxury tourism industry in Hainan and a year later I opened a joint venture in Hainan with the International French company “DreamArt Photography”. Acting as CEO of the Hainan branch, I took responsibility of developing the brand in Hainan, managing the teams of foreign photographers and Chinese sales and marketing, and collaborated as official provider of 3 luxury hotel brands in Sanya (Ritz-Carlton, Sofitel and Shangri-La).

With the Covid crisis we put the Hainan branch in temporary closure, and I started to work for Sanya Yazhou Bay Science and technology City, one of the 11 key government projects of the construction of Hainan Free Trade Port. As the international investment manager, I handle communication with foreign companies interested to invest and relocate in Sanya. I’m responsible for the communication with foreign embassies and chambers of commerce in China and organizing with them seminars and webinars about investment opportunities in Sanya. I also work closely with the industrial park team, putting in place new mechanisms and services to better serve foreign companies relocating in Sanya, organizing legal workshops for the local foreign community on the new rules and policies in Hainan, and cross-culture business communication workshops to develop a better international business environment in Sanya.

Charlotte Magnette Bio

Moderator

John Heather

Lecturer of Tourism Development and Management for Arizona State University at the Hainan University Arizona State University International Tourism College in Haikou, Hainan China

John Heather

John Heather, MIM is a lecturer of tourism development and management for Arizona State University at the Hainan University Arizona State University International Tourism College in Haikou, Hainan China. With over 35 years international experience in tourism management, economic growth and international development, John has worked for USAID, the UN and private-sector organizations in Micronesia, Japan, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Timor Leste, Armenia and China. He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and a master’s degree in international management and Japanese business from the Thunderbird School of Global Management. Further career information can be found at https://www.linkedin.com/in/johneheather/.

John Heather Bio

Panelist

Dr. Fuyu Yang

Researcher and Dean of Management in Sanya University

Dr. Fuyu Yang Bio

The researcher and Dean of Management in Sanya University, Project Consultant, expert and  volunteer of brain-trust in Sanya Blue Ribbon Ocean Conservation Association(BROCA,NGO). Major academic field is Sustainable Economic Development(SED), Blue&Green Designs in Business, Blue Economy, Sustainable R&D, Sustainable Cultural Diversity Conservation and Sustainable Education.

She worked for different universities(ZJCU,GBS,and Sanya University) and research institutions (Beijing New Century Research Institution and Silk Road Research Institution)over 10 years and provided consulting services for NGOs including BROCA and RENDU Ocean Association over 3 years. Some outstanding projects in SED and Blue Economy, Sustainable Cultural Diversity Conservation and sustainable public education had been finished successfully. The excellent professional reports, questionnaire designs& data analysis, and papers have been published by journals including EI Compendex (Study on the Evolution of Tourism Cultural Industrial Cluster in Hainan Province”,2017), European Research on Sustainable Development(“Study on the Evolution of Sustainable Culture Industrial Cluster in Hainan Province”,2018) and Environments(The Public Benefits Organizations : The Indispensable Power in Ocean Conservation,2020). A team was organized as a initiator and partner to design mobile games for public sustainable education in economic development, ocean conservation and cultural diversity conservation in 2020.

Dr. Fuyu Yang Bio

Event Partner

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