BEIJING - President Xi Jinping has underlined the importance of high quality and high standards of construction in the Hainan free trade port, while prioritizing the innovation of institutional integration in the process of building the port.

Building Hainan free trade port is a significant strategic decision to push forward the innovation and development of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and a matter of great importance in the progress of China's reform and opening up in the new era, said Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, in an official instruction.

Xi stressed the importance of sticking to the leadership of the CPC and to the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, aligning with high-standard international economic and trade rules, promoting the smooth flow of production factors and building Hainan into a high-quality free trade port with high standards.

He said that the innovation of institutional integration would be prioritized to free people's minds to make bold innovations and ensure enduring progress.

Xi urged the local government of Hainan to act boldly and proactively to accomplish the goal of laying a solid foundation for the construction of the Hainan free trade port, while central authorities should support Hainan's daring reforms and innovation, pushing for new achievements in the construction of the port.

China is aiming to establish a set of free trade port policies focusing on trade and investment facilitation across the whole island of Hainan by 2025, building an economy with a new height of openness by 2035 and a high-level free trade port of global influence by the middle of the century.