on 30 Mar 2022
Hainan has introduced new regulations for the use and registration of boats, which could help give a boost to the booming recreational boating industry in the region.
The new law, said to be the first local yacht industry development law in the southern Chinese province, was passed on 25 March by the Standing Committee of the Provincial People’s Congress of Hainan, and comes into force on July 1 this year, according to a report in Nanguo Metropolis Daily.
Hainan is a free trade port with long, tropical coastlines, and is seen as an emerging epicentre of boating in China. Net tax rates on imported yachts to Hainan have dropped to zero as part of the island province’s new free trade zone policy.
The new regulations provide for government measures to further develop and deregulate the yachting industry in the region. They seek to make it simplify registration procedures, by allowing owners who are foreign nationals with a Hainan residence permit to apply for registration at the Hainan Free Trade Port. Age limits for imported yachts are to be lowered and requirements for crew members are also being reduced.
It is also indicated in the new law that the development of public infrastructure for yachts will be included in the expenditure lines of local authorities.