China’s Gold Rush Comes to Xi's Tariff-Free Paradise

Three months after China declared Hainan the world’s largest “free-trade port,” the tropical island off the country’s southeastern coast has become a shopping paradise for those who believe in the beauty of gold.

Best known for palm trees and beachfront resorts, the island has been marketed as a major gateway for what President Xi Jinping called the era of “opening up.” Beijing wants to show the world that China isn’t only a major exporter — the trade surplus notched a record $1.2 trillion last year — but is keen to welcome foreign imports. The free-trade label serves as a snub to the Trump 2.0 tariff policies to choke globalization as we know it.