Hainan's Island-Wide Special Customs Operations:Meeting ASEAN Demands for Cross

Under the Hainan Free Trade Port's special customs arrangements, Haikou is accelerating the development of a cross-border bonded maintenance service ecosystem that spans aviation, new energy and medical devices. The aim is to provide ASEAN companies with maintenance services that are closer to home, lower in cost and faster in customs clearance.

In the maintenance hangar at the Haikou Airport Integrated Free Trade Zone, a passenger jet from Jordan sat parked while engineers carried out inspections and repainting work. Not far away, 24 power batteries for new energy vehicles shipped from overseas waited for customs clearance before entering the zone. This marked Hainan's first bonded maintenance service for power batteries.

Unlocking New Opportunities with Policy Reform

At Silongshi (Hainan) Technology Co., Ltd. in the Haikou Integrated Free Trade Zone, engineer Lei Bo, wearing an anti-static wristband, carefully disassembled a pair of faulty wireless bluetooth headphones shipped from overseas. Once the procedure was completed, the headphones were to be re-exported.

Miao Huage, general manager of Silongshi, explained that wireless bluetooth headphones are not included in the list of items eligible for bonded maintenance services in other free trade zones on the Chinese mainland. According to Miao, the Hainan FTP has eased trade control measures, creating a favorable policy window for high-value consumer electronics. Less than a year after its establishment, the company has completed a series of first repair orders for products including bluetooth headphones and laptops, with clients from the U.S., Germany and Belgium.

Kaili Biomedical Technology (Haikou) Co., Ltd. also benefited from the policy reform. On the first day of special customs operations, Li Xiaoxi, general manager of the company, received its first inbound shipment for repair: 25 pieces of medical endoscope parts and accessories. Previously, endoscopes were included in the list of goods and articles prohibited and restricted for import and export. Kaili Biotechnology, headquartered in Shenzhen, previously had to provide after-sales services through overseas subsidiaries or by partnering with external maintenance providers, a costly arrangement. Li said, 'We project the maintenance center in Hainan to reduce our operating costs by 20 to 30 percent in the long run.'

The benefits enterprises have gained stemmed from the faster rollout of institutional benefits under the island-wide special customs arrangements. On December 18, 2025, the Hainan FTP officially launched its island-wide special customs operations and released the Hainan FTP List of Goods and Articles Prohibited and Restricted for Import and Export. The list removed import licensing requirements for 60 categories of used electromechanical products and allowed bonded maintenance services at the Hainan FTP for products under 38 commodity codes, the most open arrangement of its kind in China.

Song Xiangqing, vice president of the Commerce Economy Association of China and director of the Special Committee for Free Trade Ports (Zones), commented that special policies under the Hainan General Bonded Maintenance Directory, combined with exceptional measures from the Hainan FTP, have given China's maintenance industry a unique institutional edge. He sees Hainan as a potential high-end equipment maintenance hub for the entire Southeast Asia.

Aircraft Maintenance Taking the Lead

Within Haikou's bonded maintenance industry, aircraft maintenance is the oldest, largest and most internationalized segment.

The Haikou Airport Integrated Free Trade Zone has established two specialized platforms for one-stop aircraft and aircraft engine maintenance. It has drawn five leading enterprises with 24 maintenance licenses from 19 countries and regions, along with many OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturer), ranking among the top in the country. More than 30 foreign airlines from Vietnam, Thailand, Qatar and other countries have become its long-term clients.

A representative of the free trade zone said, 'The Hainan FTP has basically established a full-chain maintenance industrial base covering major services such as aircraft overhaul, component repair, engine maintenance and aircraft painting.'

With aircraft maintenance leading the way, the scope of bonded maintenance services in Haikou has expanded rapidly. In the automotive parts sector, CRRC International Vehicle Industry (Hainan) Co., Ltd. has achieved an annual maintenance capacity of 12,000 to 20,000 units since its establishment in May 2024. Breakthroughs also came in the electronic information, semiconductor and medical device sectors, with bonded maintenance services for bluetooth headphones, wafers and semiconductor devices rolled out en masse.

As of May 2026, 24 bonded maintenance projects were operating in Hainan Province. By the end of August, 30 bonded maintenance companies had registered in Haikou, 12 of which had begun operations. Overall, the industry is shifting from isolated breakthroughs to cluster development.

A New China-ASEAN Hub

The rise of Haikou's bonded maintenance industry holds special regional significance against the backdrop of deepening China-ASEAN cooperation.

Hainan sits in southern China and has convenient air and sea connections, linking to the Asia-Pacific to the east and reaching Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern markets to the west.

Drawing on China's deep pool of engineers and technical talent, Hainan offers more predictable maintenance turnaround times and lower labor costs while matching the quality of traditional hubs such as Singapore and Dubai.

The continuous advancement of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the implementation of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 (CAFTA 3.0) have deepened industrial and supply chain integration within the region. Airlines from ASEAN countries such as Thailand and Vietnam have become regular clients of Haikou's aircraft maintenance providers, while demand for maintenance of medical devices and oilfield equipment in Southeast Asia is now being met efficiently through Haikou.

With steady policy support and deeper integration with the ASEAN market, Haikou is emerging as a key new node in China-ASEAN service trade cooperation. For ASEAN companies, Hainan is becoming an increasingly mainstream choice for maintenance services and an increasingly important part of their regional industrial and supply chain layouts.