Digital commerce success highlights island province's supportive ecosystem

Usman Naim, a Nigerian national, opened his livestream session on a social e-commerce platform with local handicrafts and cultural products displayed behind him. He pitched Hainan-made goods to consumers in Malaysia, Indonesia and Canada.

"Now in 2025, livestreaming is one of the fastest ways to grow a business," Naim said, as viewers started to place orders. Naim is part of Hainan Haoniao Media Technology Group Co Ltd, a Haikou, Hainan province-based firm that has built a global livestreaming team selling to more than 30 countries and regions.

According to chairman Ruan Ning, Hainan Haoniao Media Technology's overseas sales channels have cut delivery times to just three to five days for Southeast Asia and around a week to the US.

"Through cross-border livestreaming, we've brought intangible cultural heritage, tourism culture, beauty products and home goods in the province onto the international stage," Ruan said.

The company has recorded peak monthly sales of 3.47 million yuan ($487,400) and amassed more than 680 million global views. She credited the island's favorable business environment: visa-free entry for citizens of 89 countries, preferential tax rates for companies and individuals, and policies to attract digital nomads.

The rapid rise of livestreaming commerce is an example of Hainan's broader digital economy push. Haikou has positioned cross-border e-commerce as a breakthrough industry for the Hainan Free Trade Port, which is central to the country's new round of high-level opening-up.

In 2024, digital trade in Hainan reached 28.79 billion yuan, up 44.5 percent year-on-year. Exports totaled 16.93 billion yuan, surging nearly 80 percent. Cross-border e-commerce was the standout driver, accounting for 8.51 billion yuan — 15 times higher than the year before — with exports making up more than 98 percent of the total.

For January to July 2025, provincial digital trade reached 13.53 billion yuan, with exports at 8.53 billion yuan, up 5.5 percent. Business services contributed strongly, rising 28.9 percent, while exports of computer services were 1.3 times higher than last year with revenue from game exports increasing by 670 million yuan.

Supporting this momentum are infrastructure and regulatory upgrades. The provincial development and reform commission has rolled out a "one grid for power and computing" initiative to cut electricity costs for digital firms. The communications authority has also enrolled Dun & Bradstreet and Yino Hainan Offshore Data in a value-added telecom expanded pilot program.

Dun & Bradstreet, a US-based commercial data giant, views Hainan as a key strategic hub. Wu Guangyu, president of Dun & Bradstreet China, said the Hainan Free Trade Port will accelerate the two-way flow of global companies entering China and domestic firms expanding abroad.

"Behind this flow is a vast demand for corporate credit information and global supply chain data," he said.

Since setting up in Haikou in 2022, the company has issued a "D-U-N-S Number", a unique nine-digit identifier for businesses, to nearly 60,000 Chinese firms. In 2025, Dun & Bradstreet's subsidiary in Hainan became one of the first foreign-funded firms approved to expand into value-added telecommunications services, including internet data centers and online transaction processing.

Wu attributed their rapid development to the supportive ecosystem in Hainan province. "Cross-border data services demand extremely high standards for cloud and security. Hainan's infrastructure capabilities give us confidence to expand," he said.

Looking ahead, the island province is advancing several initiatives to strengthen its digital trade ecosystem, including cutting costs for offshore trade, expanding compliant data channels and piloting innovative retail models. Provincial authorities are also drafting fiscal subsidies to support platforms, logistics and overseas warehouses, aiming to achieve 20 percent annual growth in cross-border e-commerce.

Hainan is also enhancing its role as a global digital gateway. Two new international submarine cables are set to land in Lingshui Li autonomous county, and a telecommunications gateway will be completed before the end of 2025. These upgrades will further strengthen the island's capacity to support cross-border data flows and high-value digital trade.

Ma Mengmeng contributed to this story.