Hainan is stepping up its efforts to find investors.

A provincial business delegation led by Vice-Governor Ni Qiang to Hong Kong and Germany in December became the first in the country to be led by such a high provincial official in search of foreign investment since the COVID-19 outbreak.

On Tuesday, a delegation led by Shen Xiaoming, secretary of the Hainan Committee of the Communist Party of China, arrived in Hong Kong for activities aimed at attracting business investment and talent to the Hainan free trade port.

A promotional conference themed "New era, new opening-up, new business opportunity" was held in Hong Kong on Wednesday morning.

"Cooperation between Hainan and Hong Kong is growing rapidly," Huang Cui, deputy director of the Hainan Bureau of International Economic Development, said at the conference. "We have built Hainan-Hong Kong cooperation pilot zones in Haikou and Sanya, held many symposiums and produced materials to help people better understand the FTP policies."

Hainan's Department of Commerce issued a notice on Monday for public comments on 10 measures for opening up the port's professional services market to Hong Kong. It mentions plans to encourage Hong Kong banks to set up branches or representative offices in Hainan, insurance companies to set up sole proprietorships or branches in the province and qualified financial institutions to set up securities, futures and public funds management companies in the FTP.

The notice also aims to expand the scope of professional qualification examinations for Hong Kong personnel who want to work in Hainan.

Since April 2018, more than 2,000 Hong Kong-funded enterprises have been established in Hainan, accounting for 42.4 percent of the newly established foreign-funded enterprises in the province. The use of Hong Kong capital reached $9.77 billion, taking up 76 percent of the total foreign capital in the FTP.

In October, Hainan issued 5 billion offshore yuan ($73 million) in local government bonds in Hong Kong. It was the first issuance of blue bonds and sustainability bonds by a Chinese local government in the international capital market.