With tariffs rising around the world and President Trump vowing an end to decades of globalization, China’s leadership is trumpeting a tropical island as proof that it is moving in the opposite direction.

隨著全球關稅不斷上升，川普總統誓言要終結持續了數十年的全球化，中國領導人正在大力宣傳一個熱帶島嶼，以此證明中國正在朝著相反的方向前進。

The island of Hainan — a province of China off the country’s southern coast 50 times the size of Singapore — last month scrapped tariffs on most imports, slashed corporate and individual taxes and declared itself the world’s largest “free trade port.” China declared it an emblem of its readiness for two-way trade with the world.

海南省位於中國南部沿海，面積相當於新加坡的50倍——這座島嶼上月取消了對大部分進口商品的關稅，大幅削減企業和個人稅負，並宣布成為全球最大的「自由貿易港」。中國宣稱，這標誌著中國願意與世界進行雙向貿易。

Xi Jinping, China’s top leader, called Hainan “a significant gateway leading China’s opening up in the new era.”

中國最高領導人習近平稱海南是「我國新時代對外開放的重要門戶」。

As portrayed by Beijing, Hainan’s experiment with tariff-free trade recalls the spirit of China’s early reform era after the death of Mao Zedong in 1976. The Communist Party ditched socialist dogma and began testing bold free-market policies in certain areas. Those that worked were rolled out more widely.

在北京的敘事裡，海南實施自由貿易試驗的做法讓人回想起1976年毛澤東去世後中國改革開放初期的精神。當時，中國共產黨摒棄了社會主義教條，開始在一些地區試驗大膽的自由市場政策。被證明行之有效的政策將在更廣範圍推廣。

China’s place in global trade is very different now. The country has grown into the world’s unrivaled manufacturing power and second-largest economy. Mr. Xi has repeatedly called for self-reliance and worked to ensure that China is never dependent on anything foreign. He has shown little interest in altering the high tariffs and export-focused policies that helped give China a gargantuan $1 trillion trade surplus last year.

如今中國在全球貿易中的地位已截然不同。這個國家已成長為世界無可匹敵的製造業大國和全球第二大經濟體。習近平多次呼籲自力更生，並努力確保中國永遠不依賴任何外國事物。他看起來無意調整高關稅和以出口為核心的政策——正是這些政策去年幫助中國創造了高達1萬億美元的巨額貿易順差。

“There is no sign that Hainan is a forerunner for a broader and more systematic opening up of the national economy,” said Richard McGregor, a senior fellow for East Asia at the Lowy Institute, an Australian research center. “At a time of record trade surpluses,” he added, Hainan’s new role as a free trade entrepôt “has a strong whiff of bait and switch about it in political and P.R. terms.”

澳洲智庫洛伊研究所的東亞高級研究員馬利德(Richard McGregor)說：「沒有跡象表明海南正在引領國民經濟實現更大範圍、更系統化的開放。」他還說，「在貿易順差創紀錄之際」，海南作為自由貿易港的新角色「在政治與公關層面都帶著強烈的掛羊頭賣狗肉意味」。

Most foreign goods can now flow freely into Hainan, whose 10 million people account for less than 1 percent of China’s total population. But those imports are not allowed to leave the island for other parts of the country unless stringent conditions are met.

如今，大多數外國商品可以自由進入海南，該省有1000萬人口，這個數字僅佔中國總人口的1%不到。但這些進口商品不允許離開海南島進入中國其他地方，除非滿足嚴格的條件。

The combination of policies is meant to prevent the tariff-free imports to Hainan from seeping into other parts of the country, where high tariffs remain in force.

這一政策組合旨在防止免稅進口商品滲透到仍然實行高關稅的中國其他地區。

That China has no plans to abandon its protectionist trade policies was made clear a few days after the Hainan Free Trade Port began working on Dec. 18: The commerce ministry in Beijing imposed tariffs of up to 42.7 percent on dairy imports to China from Europe.

中國無意放棄其保護主義貿易政策，這一點在12月18日海南自貿港啟動後幾天就變得十分清楚：中國商務部對來自歐洲、進入中國的乳製品徵收最高達42.7%的關稅。

On the last day of the year, the ministry announced what it called “safeguard measures on imported beef,” a system of quotas and tariffs of 55 percent designed to limit imports. And on Tuesday, it said it would put tight controls on exports of goods to Japan that have dual civilian and military uses.

年底最後一天，商務部宣布了所謂「進口牛肉保障措施」，即通過配額和高達55%的關稅來限制進口。本週二又表示將嚴格兩用物項對日本的出口管制。

Goods imported to Hainan cannot be shipped to other parts of China duty-free unless they have been processed in ways that increase their value by at least 30 percent.

進口到海南的貨物，除非加工增值達到至少30%，否則不能免稅運往中國其他地區。

At Haikou’s New Port, a gigantic passenger and cargo terminal in the provincial capital, ships sail night and day to the neighboring province of Guangdong. But what used to be a domestic transport hub has become in effect an international border. The Chinese customs service controls the flow of goods out of Hainan to elsewhere in China, checking trucks for any duty-free goods that are being smuggled into the rest of the country.

在省會海口，船隻晝夜不停地從巨大的新港客貨碼頭駛往鄰近的廣東省。但曾經的國內交通樞紐實際上已成為一道國際邊界。中國海關管控著從海南流向中國其他地方的貨物，檢查卡車是否夾帶任何免稅商品走私進入中國其他地區。

Although highly restricted, the possibility of access to the Chinese market beyond Hainan is already attracting a few foreign companies that would otherwise face high tariffs trying to sell to Guangdong or other Chinese provinces.

儘管限制很多，但能夠進入海南之外中國市場的這種可能性已經吸引了一些外國公司——若直接向廣東或其他中國省份銷售商品，它們原本將面臨高額關稅。

Nesredin Hussein, a coffee merchant from Ethiopia, recently rented a warehouse near Haikou to store beans imported to the island duty-free. He plans to buy roasting equipment so he can process coffee brought into Hainan tariff-free and then ship it to other parts of China for sale without paying a tariff or tax.

來自衣索比亞的咖啡商人納斯雷丁·侯賽因近日在海口附近租下倉庫，用來存放免稅進口到海南的咖啡豆。他計劃購買烘焙設備，對以免稅方式進入海南的咖啡進行加工，然後再把這些咖啡運往中國其他地區銷售，無需支付關稅或稅費。

“For me, this is a very good opportunity” given China’s voracious appetite for coffee, he said, noting that he would otherwise have to pay up to 30 percent in tariffs and other taxes on any beans he imported into mainland China directly. “Here the rate is zero,” he said, after a visit with his wife and three children to the Hainan branch of Harrow School, an elite British boarding school.

他說，考慮到中國對咖啡的巨大需求，「這對我來說是一個絕佳的機會。」若直接向中國大陸出口咖啡豆，他將不得不支付高達30%的關稅和其他稅費。「這裡的稅率是零，」他說。之前他攜妻子和三個孩子參觀了英國精英寄宿學校哈羅公學的海南分校。

Less convinced is Kamthon Wangudom, an ethnic Chinese businessman from Thailand who, invited to Hainan in December to visit a village where his ancestors lived, was taken first to an exhibition center pitching the island’s investment opportunities. He said his renewable energy company in Bangkok had already invested in Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines but was staying away from China because it “is too big and too complicated.” He is skeptical the new tariff regime will change much.

來自泰國的華裔商人甘通·旺烏東則持保留態度。去年12月，他受邀來到海南參觀祖輩曾經生活的村莊，卻首先被帶到一個展示中心，向他推介海南投資機會。他說，他在曼谷的可再生能源公司已經在台灣、日本和菲律賓進行了投資，但尚未涉足中國，因為它「太大、太複雜」。他對新的關稅制度能否帶來實質性改變持懷疑態度。

Hainan likes to compare itself to Hawaii for its palm-fringed beaches and resorts; like Hawaii, it is also studded with military facilities. These include a giant naval base near the southern resort town of Sanya that has grown rapidly as China asserted its claims over the South China Sea. Mr. Xi visited Hainan in November to tout the duty-free policies. But his main purpose was to inspect the naval base and attend the commissioning of a new aircraft carrier. Mr. Xi made clear that the strategic importance of Hainan means that security interests must trump economic ambitions.

海南喜歡將自己比作夏威夷，因為島上也有棕櫚掩映的海灘和度假勝地；與夏威夷相似的是，海南也遍布軍事設施。其中包括南部度假城市三亞附近的一個大型海軍基地，隨著中國在南海宣示主權，該基地迅速擴大。習近平去年11月訪問海南時曾大談自貿港。但他此行的主要目的是視察海軍基地並出席一艘新航母的入列儀式。習近平明確表示，海南的戰略重要性意味著安全利益必須優先於經濟雄心。

Communist Party officials have plastered Haikou with red banners praising Mr. Xi and a “new era of openness.” Yet they declined to be interviewed for this article and ordered private companies on the island not to discuss how the new tariff-free regime might help or hurt their business.

中共官員在海口張貼了大量紅色標語，歌頌習近平以及「新時代的開放」。然而，他們拒絕接受本報導的採訪，並下令島上的私營企業不得討論新的免稅制度可能對其業務帶來何種利弊。

Officials have good reason to be jittery. A few days before the tariff-free system began last month, a court in Shanghai sentenced the island’s former longtime Communist Party leader, Luo Baoming, to 15 years in jail for taking more than 113 million yuan (about $16 million) in bribes over a nearly three-decade career.

官員們的緊張並非沒有緣由。就在自貿港啟動前幾天，上海一家法院判處在海南擔任多年省委書記的羅保銘15年有期徒刑，因其在近30年的職業生涯中收受賄賂超過1.13億元（約合1600萬美元）。

Mr. Luo was the latest senior Hainan official to be sent to jail in recent years for corruption.

羅保銘是近年來因腐敗入獄的最新一位海南高級官員。

Hainan has a history of big plans that often disappoint, starting with its designation as China’s last but biggest Special Economic Zone in 1988, a high tide of cooperation with foreign business that has receded rapidly since Mr. Xi came to power in 2012.

海南歷來不缺宏大規劃，但結果往往令人失望。這可以追溯到1988年，當時海南被指定為中國最後一個也是最大的經濟特區，它曾迎來與外國企業合作的高潮，但自2012年習近平上台以來，這股浪潮迅速退去。

Unable to match the extraordinary economic growth of rival special zones like Shenzhen, next to Hong Kong, Hainan was for years largely seen as a sunny also-ran. It built up its tourist industry, including medical tourism, and constructed new highways and high-speed railway lines. In the 1990s, it spawned a property crash on the island, the first in China under communism.

由於難以與毗鄰香港的深圳等對手特區的驚人經濟增長相匹敵，海南多年來在很大程度上被視為一個陽光明媚的陪跑者。它發展了包括醫療旅遊在內的旅遊業，並建設了新的高速公路和高鐵線。上世紀90年代，海南房地產崩盤，這是共產主義中國歷史上的首次。

Mr. Xi first announced plans to turn Hainan into a free-trade mecca in 2018. The project began with the opening of huge duty-free malls in Haikou and Sanya. This attracted Chinese tourists looking for discounted foreign luxury brands but failed to reverse the economic fortunes of an island still scarred by the impact of the property meltdown.

Today’s development of Hainan’s free port “faces tough reality checks,” according to a study by the Asia Competitiveness Institute at the National University of Singapore. Hainan is far less successful than other Chinese Special Economic Zones and attracts relatively little direct foreign investment, the report said.

根據新加坡國立大學亞洲競爭力研究所的一項研究，如今海南自貿港的發展「面臨嚴峻的現實考驗」。報告稱，海南遠不如中國其他經濟特區成功，而且吸引的外商直接投資相對有限。

For others, however, the importance of Hainan is its role as a test ground for innovative policies that don’t rock the boat.

不過，對其他人而言，海南的重要性在於它扮演了「政策試驗田」的角色——不會造成大範圍混亂的前提下嘗試創新政策。

The free trade port experiment will allow China to try out new approaches to such things as finance, education and taxes, said Lauren Johnson, founder of New South Economics, a consultancy in Melbourne, Australia, “while concurrently protecting the status quo on the mainland.”

澳洲墨爾本諮詢公司「新南方經濟學」創始人勞倫·強生表示，自貿港實驗將允許中國在金融、教育和稅收等領域嘗試新方法，「同時維護大陸的現狀」。