Hainan's 3-Year Action Plan for Foreign Business Services: What 30 Measures Mean for Investors
What Hainan's 30-measure foreign-services action plan means for investors, from registration and work permits to banking, data, healthcare, education and payments.
August 13, 2026 · Hainan Setup Editorial Team · 10 min read
The most useful fact about Hainan’s new 30-measure foreign-services plan is also the easiest to miss: it is a roadmap, not a menu of benefits available on day one.
Issued in April 2026, the Three-Year Action Plan for Optimizing Foreign-Related Services and Enhancing the International Business Environment in Hainan Province (Qiong Yingshangban [2026] No. 18) covers the full foreign-investor journey—from reading a policy in English and registering a company to opening accounts, hiring foreign staff, receiving medical care and making everyday payments.
For a Singapore, Malaysian or Thai founder, the plan is best used as an implementation tracker. Some services already exist and are being expanded. Some have begun rolling out through later measures. Others remain commitments that should not be placed in a business plan until the relevant authority, bank or service provider confirms availability.
This guide explains the 30 measures through that decision lens: what can be acted on, what should be monitored and what still requires case-by-case verification.
The seven-part map
The plan groups its 30 measures into seven areas. The official Hainan English-language plan and the provincial government’s official implementation briefing are the primary references.
| Area | Measures | Investor-facing purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Policy and legal guidance | 1–5 | Multilingual policy, hotline and cross-border legal services |
| Language environment | 6–8 | Government websites, signs and foreign-language service capacity |
| Government services | 9–12 | International service zones, linked procedures and user testing |
| Foreign-invested enterprise services | 13–18 | Finance, registration, incentives, innovation and investor protection |
| Talent and living services | 19–24 | Work, professional recognition, healthcare, education and daily life |
| Tourism, travel and consumption | 25–29 | Routes, entry experience, events and payment acceptance |
| Implementation safeguards | 30 | Annual workplans, project management, evaluation and risk control |
The plan’s importance is breadth. It treats foreign investment as a service chain. A fast business licence has limited value if the founder cannot complete identity verification, the bank cannot read the ownership file or the employee cannot use the same identity document across transport and payments.
Measure 30 is therefore central. It calls for annual task lists, project-based implementation and evaluation. The plan creates accountability and direction, but the operational answer for an investor remains: “Which measure is live for this applicant, in this city, at this institution?”
Company registration: measure 14
Measure 14 focuses on recurring foreign-investor friction:
- a Chinese-English interface for Hainan e-Registration 2.0;
- a recommendation-letter and commitment-based filing model;
- online passport identity verification for foreign individual investors;
- exploration of simpler notarization, authentication and Apostille materials; and
- extension of Hainan registration support to Hong Kong through China-appointed attesting officers.
This direction is already producing operational changes. Hainan later issued a second batch of foreign-invested-enterprise registration facilitation measures, and in July 2026 authorities reported an online real-name verification and electronic-signature route for specified foreign individual investors.
That does not make every application fully remote. The identity document, shareholder type, country of issuance, activity and document route still matter. Bank onboarding is independent, and sector permissions can have their own attendance or original-document requirements.
Use the updated Hainan company registration guide to separate the licence stage from bank, tax, employment and customs activation.
Work permits, residence and talent: measures 10, 11, 19 and 20
The plan aims to connect foreign-worker procedures across regions and government systems.
Measure 11 calls for simplified Hainan work-permit handling for eligible people who already hold a valid permit from a region with an established cooperation mechanism. It highlights coordination with the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area and other major regions, as well as convenience for qualifying professionals applying from within mainland China.
This is not a nationwide automatic transfer. Before moving, confirm:
- whether the existing permit-issuing region has an applicable mechanism with Hainan;
- whether the proposed Hainan role and employer qualify;
- how the existing employment and permit should be cancelled or transferred; and
- which documents must be resubmitted.
Measure 10 promotes wider use of the foreigner permanent residence ID card in government services, public transport, finance, healthcare and internet payments. Measure 20 continues integration of work-permit information with social-security-card services and explores recognition of overseas professional qualifications.
These service upgrades do not change the underlying immigration categories. The Hainan visa and residency guide explains the separate rules for visits, work authorization, residence and permanent residence.
Banking, foreign exchange and capital: measures 13, 16 and 23
The finance measures address three different problems and should not be blended into a promise of unrestricted capital movement.
Corporate cross-border transactions
Measure 13 calls for more banks to provide EF accounts and expand their functions. An EF account can support eligible cross-border transactions, but the account type does not replace contracts, tax records, customs declarations, beneficial-owner checks or bank review. The EF-account guide and cross-border fund-flow guide explain the transaction-level evidence.
Investment and credit access
The plan supports further QFLP development and a cross-border credit-service platform involving domestic and overseas credit agencies. These measures may improve access and information, but they do not guarantee financing or fund qualification.
Salary remittance
Measure 23 calls for more efficient foreign-exchange purchase and outward remittance of foreign employees’ salary. In practice, the cleanest file connects the employment contract, payslips, IIT withholding, bank receipts and annual settlement. The updated Hainan personal income tax guide separates salary remittance from eligibility for the 15% tax-burden policy.
Measure 16 also supports an English version of Hainan’s policy-redemption platform and expansion of no-application or simplified benefit handling. A company should still check the current programme, application conditions and system status before recognizing a subsidy or incentive in its accounts.
Legal services, disputes and investor protection: measures 4 and 18
The plan calls for development of the Hainan International Arbitration Court’s Hong Kong presence, cultivation of more than 20 foreign-related legal-service institutions, attraction of eligible overseas law-firm offices and stronger foreign-related professional capacity.
Measure 18 emphasizes protection of foreign-invested-enterprise rights, intellectual-property border protection and credit supervision for entities employing foreigners.
For a contract, these are ecosystem signals rather than automatic clause choices. Governing law, arbitration institution, seat, language, interim relief and enforceability still require transaction-specific advice. A proposed Hong Kong-facing service center should not be described as the agreed forum until the institution, rules and clause have been confirmed.
Data and digital government: measures 9 and 13
Measure 9 supports online foreign-related government services, identity verification, information sharing and multilingual smart assistance. Measure 13 calls for an efficient, convenient and secure cross-border data-flow mechanism.
The word secure matters. The plan does not create a general exemption from China’s cybersecurity, data-security or personal-information requirements. Hainan’s data-export negative list may simplify specified procedures in its legal scope, while the company must still classify the actual data, identify personal and important data and select the correct transfer route.
Read the Hainan data-export negative-list guide and tech-startup guide before designing a SaaS, e-commerce or AI architecture around the action plan.
Healthcare, education and everyday services: measures 21–24 and 28
The plan recognizes that foreign investment decisions also depend on whether founders and employees can live on the island.
| Area | Plan direction | What to verify now |
|---|---|---|
| Healthcare | International outpatient services, bilingual access, international accreditation and insurance settlement | Participating hospital, insurer, treatment and direct-billing arrangement |
| Education | More schools serving foreign students and stronger international education options | Admission policy, curriculum, fees, location and opening date |
| Salary and integrity services | Easier salary remittance and voluntary Jinyefen participation | Bank documents and currently available credit scenarios |
| Mobile and property services | Passport-supported short-term telecom products and multilingual services | Operator, outlet, plan and identification accepted |
| Payments | Wider acceptance of cards, cash and mobile payment at major visitor locations | Merchant, card network, wallet and transaction limit |
Some elements are already visible. Hainan has launched international-service portals and expanded payment and identity support. Others require provider-by-provider integration. A province-wide commitment should not be converted into “every hospital accepts every international insurer” or “every foreign card works everywhere.”
Connectivity and entry experience: measures 25–29
The plan supports more routes to RCEP markets, Europe, Northeast Asia and Oceania, as well as international cruise services and improved inbound-tourism infrastructure.
Route announcements change quickly. A Singapore or Kuala Lumpur founder should confirm the current seasonal timetable, entry port and visa route rather than treating a policy target as a booked service. Hainan’s 61-country regional visa-free route is also limited by nationality, purpose, duration and geographic scope; it does not authorize work.
Multilingual policy and government access: measures 1–3, 6, 9 and 12
The plan calls for a Hainan FTP international-service portal, a bilingual policy platform, stronger foreign-language 12345 support, international service areas in government halls and regular service testing by foreign users.
This part is already moving. Hainan’s official International Services portal now provides English policy and service navigation. The plan also sets a target for timely foreign-language publication and interpretation of relevant policies.
Foreign-language access is a service improvement, not a new source of law. For an application or dispute, check the current Chinese document and authority interpretation; an English page may state that the Chinese version prevails.
A three-bucket implementation test
Do not ask whether “the plan is in effect” as one yes-or-no question. Classify each needed measure.
Bucket 1: operating and expandable
Examples may include the international-service portal, existing electronic registration, 12345 support, EF-account infrastructure and payment facilitation. Check which institution or channel currently provides the service.
Bucket 2: announced and partially implemented
Online identity verification, Hong Kong registration support, regional work-permit coordination and expanded document facilitation can fall here. Check eligibility and implementation notices.
Bucket 3: roadmap commitment
Some service zones, provider networks, professional-recognition systems or institutional projects may still require detailed rules, procurement, systems and local delivery. Track the responsible department and annual task list.
For each item, record the measure, responsible authority, latest implementing notice, current channel, eligibility, required evidence and fallback. This turns a policy article into an operating plan.
What Southeast Asian investors should do now
Before incorporation: screen the business, shareholder documents, identity route, bank requirements and founder work status. Use the action plan to ask better questions, not to assume exceptions.
During setup: retain written evidence of which facilitated route the registry, bank or authority accepts. Keep a conventional fallback for legalization, identity verification or attendance.
During operations: monitor salary remittance, work-permit renewal, data transfers and policy-redemption platforms. Build documentation before claiming a convenience or incentive.
Each quarter: check whether measures relevant to the company have moved from roadmap to implementation. Update the responsibility and evidence list rather than rewriting the entire structure around every announcement.
The regional-headquarters guide explains how a group can separate a genuine Hainan operating hub from an official recognition label.
Common questions
What is the Three-Year Action Plan?
It is an April 2026 provincial plan with 30 measures across seven foreign-service areas. It covers policy access, government services, enterprise support, talent, daily life, travel and implementation safeguards.
Can I now register without travelling to China?
Eligible cases increasingly can complete registration steps remotely through electronic verification and facilitated documents. Confirm the live route for the passport and shareholder structure. Banking and certain licences remain separate.
Does the plan make salary remittance easier?
It calls for more efficient service. Salary still needs authentic employment, payroll and tax evidence, and the bank applies current foreign-exchange review.
What changes for banking and capital?
The plan supports EF-account expansion, QFLP development, cross-border credit services and English policy-redemption access. It does not guarantee a bank account, financing, unrestricted fund movement or an incentive.
Are all 30 measures available today?
No. Some expand existing services, some are partly implemented and others remain 2026–2028 roadmap commitments. Verify the individual measure before relying on it.
Related insights
This article analyzes the April 2026 action plan and publicly available implementation information reviewed in August 2026. The plan contains phased commitments; availability and eligibility must be confirmed with the responsible authority or provider. This is general information, not legal, tax, immigration, banking or investment advice.
