The tide rises in the South China Sea, and a thousand sails race against each other.
The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee proposed "building the Hainan Free Trade Port to high standards," and the recently held Central Economic Work Conference further deployed efforts to "solidly advance the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port." Now, with the entire island of Hainan about to be sealed off for customs clearance, boundless momentum is surging across the South China Sea coast.
For a century, Bank of China has been moving forward with Hainan. From the first remittance from overseas Chinese in Qiongzhou branch in 1914 to the "first order speed" of EF account in 2024, and then to the "first batch of landing" of cross-border fund centralized operation center in 2025, a magnificent picture of "financial freedom" and "industrial take-off" is slowly unfolding on the island of Hainan.
Institutional innovations and pioneering firsts are emerging in succession.
Innovation is the main theme of the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port. In recent years, Hainan Free Trade Port has seen frequent highlights in financial innovation. Bank of China has actively leveraged its business advantages and insisted on using its strengths in cross-border finance as a springboard for the construction of the Free Trade Port, achieving multiple "first transactions," "first deals," and "first batches," continuously injecting strong momentum into the construction of the Free Trade Port.
Account system upgrade
On May 6, 2024, the "Management Measures for Multifunctional Free Trade Accounts in the Hainan Free Trade Port" came into effect. On its first day of operation, Bank of China opened EF accounts for multiple companies, completing its first transactions across all scenarios, including cross-border transactions, cross-border foreign exchange settlement, and overseas lending. As of the end of November 2025, the EF account business volume of Bank of China's Hainan Branch reached 50.3 billion yuan, covering more than ten types of businesses such as offshore trade, overseas lending, foreign debt, and offshore foreign exchange settlement, realizing "one account, multiple scenarios, and unlimited possibilities."
Freedom of investment and trade
Seizing the opportunity presented by the "Pilot Program for High-Level Opening-up of Cross-border Trade and Investment," in February 2024, the Hainan Branch of the Bank of China completed the province's first foreign debt registration of RMB 15 million. In April, based on payment instructions, it processed USD 17 million in current account funds for four high-quality enterprises, shortening the process from "weeks" to "hours." In December 2024, in collaboration with the Shanghai Clearing House and BOC Hong Kong, it completed the nation's first cross-border RMB spot settlement for bulk commodities through the "Clearing Pass" system, bridging the last mile for the Hainan International Energy Exchange Center to achieve "domestic listing, offshore delivery, and RMB pricing."
Capital pool iteration
In May 2025, we assisted Shandong Gold Group (Hainan) International Trade Co., Ltd. in being approved as one of the first "Cross-border Fund Centralized Operation Centers" in the Hainan Free Trade Port. We provided EF accounts, offshore credit, and cash management to connect the entire chain of "overseas lending, fund collection, investment and M&A, and risk hedging" and provided a core financial infrastructure template for the "two headquarters bases".
Financial support helps businesses expand overseas; EF accounts facilitate smooth global business.
The launch of EF accounts provides new infrastructure for Hainan's higher-level financial opening-up. Bank of China is committed to making good use of its financial toolbox to solve the "pain points" and "difficulties" of cross-border financial services for enterprises.
Recently, Long Minqi, a finance manager at Hainan International Trade Co., Ltd., processed a foreign exchange payment of US$130,500 to Singapore for the purchase of goods. Long Minqi explained that she only needed to submit a payment request through online banking and issue instructions to staff at the Hainan branch of the Bank of China, who then processed the foreign exchange payment on her behalf.
"It's so convenient; the payment was completed in less than an hour," said Long Minqi, adding that it greatly improves work efficiency. Hainan International Trade Center isn't the only one enjoying convenient cross-border financial services.
“The traditional process for overseas lending requires us to submit a large amount of paper materials offline for foreign exchange registration, filing, and opening a dedicated lending account. Now, through EF accounts, we can complete overseas lending business online in a seamless and one-stop manner,” said Tian Ting, Assistant Manager of the Capital Operations Department of Zhejiang Zhongtuo Group (Hainan) Co., Ltd. She added that EF accounts have brought many conveniences to the company’s cross-border business operations.
As a leading enterprise in the bulk commodity circulation sector, this group has a large business scale and strong capital needs. Leveraging the capital account facilitation policy advantages of EF accounts, the Hainan Branch of the Bank of China helped the company use its own funds to issue loans to its overseas subsidiaries through EF accounts to pay for upstream goods. Once downstream customers made payments, the funds were then returned to the EF account to repay the loans, achieving a virtuous cycle of "trade financing" within the group. This effectively solved the pain points and difficulties of tight funds and high financing costs for overseas trading companies, greatly helping the company improve its fund settlement efficiency and alleviate overseas financing pressure.
Seizing the opportunities presented by the free trade port's customs clearance operations, we will continue to chart a new course for financial opening-up.
On December 18, 2025, the Hainan Free Trade Port will begin full-island customs closure operations, and the Bank of China continues its efforts.
Focusing on core aspects such as goods trade and cross-border investment and financing, Bank of China will continue to promote the implementation of cross-border settlement, foreign exchange facilitation, and integrated investment and financing service mechanisms; at the same time, it will deepen the innovative application of EF accounts, enhance the freedom and convenience of cross-border capital flows, and provide strong support for Hainan to build a high-level open financial system.
In line with the timetable for the operation of the free trade port, Bank of China will create a dedicated service solution for "cross-border finance + industrial chain", especially in the context of RCEP and Middle East cooperation, to encourage more local enterprises to carry out cross-border RMB settlement, investment and financing.
Bank of China will continue to innovate mechanisms in areas such as cross-border cash pools, EF accounts, and offshore financial services, actively seeking pilot opportunities to help Hainan build a new highland for financial opening-up.
Bank of China will continue to thoroughly implement the spirit of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee and the Central Economic Work Conference, taking the opportunity of the Hainan Free Trade Port's official opening to the outside world, striving to be a "pioneer" in cross-border finance in the Hainan Free Trade Port, contributing Bank of China's strength to building the Hainan Free Trade Port into an important gateway leading my country's opening up to the outside world in the new era, and demonstrating greater responsibility.
