Chasing the Chinese Dream·Overseas Chinese Sees Free Trade Port: A dream of tropical and efficient agriculture in an overseas Chinese industrial park

China News Service, Danzhou, September 9th, Title: Chasing Dreams of China· Overseas Chinese Sees Free Trade Port: A Tropical Efficient Agriculture Dream of an Overseas Chinese Industrial Park

China News Service reporter Fu Yuqun

Rows of betel nut trees stand in rows, the green bayberry trees are spreading under the shade, and the papaya trees have already been bearing fruits and branches... Walking into the Danzhou Overseas Chinese Modern Agricultural Ecological Industrial Park established by Spanish overseas Chinese businessman Xu Dongyong in Nada Town and Dacheng Town, Danzhou City, Hainan Province in recent years, it is a vibrant scene. In his words, this is a hot land "more addictive than the ham business".

"In Spain, I sold ham for more than ten years; when I came to Hainan, I wanted to grow Hainan's own 'first fresh fruit in early spring'." Standing on the ground, Xu Dongyong bent down and twisted a bayberry leaf, with a smile that was a bit serious as a "new farmer".

On September 8, overseas Chinese media who participated in the 2026 Overseas Chinese Media Interview Tour to Hainan of "Chasing China and Overseas Chinese Seeing the Free Trade Port" walked into the Overseas Chinese Modern Agricultural Ecological Industrial Park in Danzhou, Hainan, and listened to the practical story of Xu Dongyong, a Spanish overseas Chinese businessman, who devoted himself to the development of tropical agriculture in the Hainan Free Trade Port. Photo by China News Service reporter Luo Yunfei

His turnaround is quite famous in Hainan overseas Chinese business circles. Previously, Xu Dongyong lived in Spain for many years, and later founded a supply chain enterprise in the Yangpu Free Trade Port Zone, mainly engaged in the import and intensive processing of Spanish ham, salami and other meat products. He took advantage of the Hainan Free Trade Port's value-added processing and tariff-free policy to bring Spanish flavor to the national market. When the meat product business was booming, he quietly shifted his business focus to another "field."

This park, covering an area of ​​more than 1,300 acres, is a demonstration base for overseas Chinese-invested rural revitalization jointly supported by multiple departments in Danzhou City. The most eye-catching thing for visitors is the ingenious idea of ​​"high and low three-dimensional interplanting": papayas and areca nut at high places shade and wind-proof bayberries at lower places, and special crops such as citrine and durian are interplanted under the forest to form a peak-staggered harvesting system. The comprehensive land utilization rate and per-acre income are thus greatly improved.

"Hainan has a suitable climate all year round and a short crop growth cycle." Xu Dongyong said that the core variety of the park, Dongkui Bayberry, was locally improved and cultivated by an expert team of the Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences. It matures and goes on the market in early April every year, dozens of days earlier than the mainstream domestic production areas, filling the gap in the high-end fresh fruit market of early spring bayberry.

In addition to the fresh fruit business, Xu Dongyong also planned a seed industry sector for the park. In his view, Hainan's excellent climate conditions and free trade port policy have the advantage of "cultivating crops to grow stronger". "The park will also successively verify the introduction of Spanish olives, Spanish nectarines, etc., so that more overseas high-quality economic crop resources can take root in Qiongdao; at the same time, it will export tropical agricultural seedlings, planting technologies, etc. overseas."

On September 8, Xu Dongyong, founder of the Overseas Chinese Modern Agricultural Ecological Industrial Park in Danzhou, Hainan, introduced to reporters the idea of three-dimensional interplanting in the park. Photo by China News Service reporter Fu Yuqun

The prosperity of a garden lies in the word "overseas Chinese". In May this year, the industrial park established the "Home for Overseas Chinese", which has attracted investment from overseas Chinese from more than 10 countries and regions, including Spain, Italy, Belgium, Argentina, and Serbia.

"This is not only a planting base, but also a gathering place for overseas Chinese to study, learn, exchange and cooperate with each other." Xu Dongyong said that relying on the Hainan Free Trade Port policy dividends and unique light and heat conditions, and empowered by efficient agriculture and technology, we hope to build the industrial park into a "home" and "bridge" connecting overseas Chinese around the world.

"The park builds a bridge of exchanges between China and foreign countries with the help of tropical agriculture, so that everyone can enjoy affordable 'sweet fruits.'" Zhou Hongwei, director of the News Acquisition and Editing Center of Hong Kong's "Times Star", who visited the "Chasing China and Overseas Chinese Free Trade Port" 2026 overseas Chinese media interview trip to Hainan, said, "Overseas Chinese have introduced overseas technologies and varieties to Hainan, and also exported Hainan products overseas, achieving a two-way resource linkage."

According to Yuan Yan, deputy director of the Chinese Television Station in Washington, DC, the park's practice is a vivid "investment guide for overseas Chinese businessmen." The park fully demonstrates the value of overseas Chinese capital and intelligence in empowering the agricultural development of the free trade port, and provides new ideas for the development of modern ecological agriculture in Hainan.

"With the rise of China's technology and the support of Hainan's policies, proven and efficient agricultural models can be exported overseas, providing a new path for the development of efficient tropical agriculture in Hainan." Xu Dongyong said when talking about future prospects, "My ultimate goal is for the industrial park to smoothly connect domestic and foreign markets, technology and capital - to allow high-quality agricultural products to go to the world and enter the homes of ordinary people." (End)