With China’s free-trade-port “customs closure” now in effect, Hainan faces a critical test during the 40-day Spring Festival travel season starting 2 February. At a 24 January press conference, provincial officials forecast 22.368 million passenger movements—5.3 per cent more than 2025 and an all-time high.
The island’s bottleneck remains the Qiongzhou Strait ferry corridor. To cope, 57 roll-on/roll-off ferries and four dedicated decks for new-energy vehicles (NEVs) will operate up to 350 sailings per day, a 10 per cent capacity boost. Demand for NEV transport is “exploding”, with 200,000 electric cars expected to cross, officials said. Two new specialised vessels, Green Source 6 and Green Source 9, enter service this week, each equipped with battery-fire isolation bays.
![Hainan gears up for first post-free-trade-port Spring Festival rush; 22.4 million journeys expected]()
For overseas businesses and tourists, making sure the right visas and travel documents are in place before tackling these new transport arrangements is essential. VisaHQ’s China desk (https://www.visahq.com/china/) can fast-track visa applications, monitor policy changes tied to the free-trade-port roll-out, and arrange courier pick-up of passports worldwide, letting travellers focus on booking those scarce ferry slots rather than paperwork.
Air traffic is also set to hit records: Haikou and Sanya airports project 3.7 per cent more passengers, aided by through-checked baggage and biometric “smart-customs” lanes designed for duty-free shoppers. Freight trucks leaving the island must now clear the new “second-line” customs yards before reaching ports—a change logistics firms say adds 20 minutes but improves cargo security.
For HR teams relocating staff to Hainan or arranging incentive travel, the message is to secure ferry or flight tickets early and to heed the provincial “Green Channel” app, which issues staggered boarding slots to smooth traffic.
The island’s bottleneck remains the Qiongzhou Strait ferry corridor. To cope, 57 roll-on/roll-off ferries and four dedicated decks for new-energy vehicles (NEVs) will operate up to 350 sailings per day, a 10 per cent capacity boost. Demand for NEV transport is “exploding”, with 200,000 electric cars expected to cross, officials said. Two new specialised vessels, Green Source 6 and Green Source 9, enter service this week, each equipped with battery-fire isolation bays.
For overseas businesses and tourists, making sure the right visas and travel documents are in place before tackling these new transport arrangements is essential. VisaHQ’s China desk (https://www.visahq.com/china/) can fast-track visa applications, monitor policy changes tied to the free-trade-port roll-out, and arrange courier pick-up of passports worldwide, letting travellers focus on booking those scarce ferry slots rather than paperwork.
Air traffic is also set to hit records: Haikou and Sanya airports project 3.7 per cent more passengers, aided by through-checked baggage and biometric “smart-customs” lanes designed for duty-free shoppers. Freight trucks leaving the island must now clear the new “second-line” customs yards before reaching ports—a change logistics firms say adds 20 minutes but improves cargo security.
For HR teams relocating staff to Hainan or arranging incentive travel, the message is to secure ferry or flight tickets early and to heed the provincial “Green Channel” app, which issues staggered boarding slots to smooth traffic.
