ABSTRACT
Hainan has seen remarkable changes since it was designated a new province and a special economic zone in 1988. In the beginning of the 1990s economic development surged and Hainan quickly reached a per capita GDP which was well above the national average. In fact, together with other coastal growth poles such as Guangdong and Fujian, Hainan was at the very cutting edge of China’s economic transformation and opening to the outside world. In the 1990-94 period the economy grew by double digit growth rates and reached an astounding 40.2 percent in 1992. In 1993, contracted FDI had surged to US$ 4.19 billion, and the value of foreign trade had reached US$ 2.6 billion. The private sector was a driving force behind the economic expansion, and in Haikou City about a third of the urban workforce was employed in private businesses.
