The Hainan Free Trade Port (the “Hainan FTP”) represents a new benchmark for China’s efforts to comprehensively deepen reform and opening-up. As an integral component of this comprehensive reform, the reform of government functions is not only a concrete manifestation of institutional innovation, but also an important pathway toward advancing the modernization of national governance. This paper systematically analyzes the challenges faced by the functional reforms of customs, transportation, and fiscal authorities under the zero-tariff framework. Accordingly, it proposes that the Hainan FTP should, guided by theories of government reengineering and institutional innovation and drawing on the experiences of Singapore’s Free Trade Port(the “Singapore’s FTP”) as well as China’s Shanghai Free Trade Zone (the “Shanghai FTZ”), achieve breakthroughs in government function reform by enhancing smart customs construction, improving the transportation system, advancing fiscal and taxation reforms, and adhering to integrated institutional innovation.

Jia'ang Chen. Challenges and Breakthroughs in Government Function Reform during the Construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port. The Frontiers of Society, Science and Technology (2025), Vol. 7, Issue 8: 7-15. https://doi.org/10.25236/FSST.2025.070802.

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