The arrival marked the launch of China's first official passenger route operated under the Seventh Freedom of the Air, which allows foreign carriers to operate flights between two foreign countries without having to land in their home country.
The route is operated by Kazakhstan's Scat Airlines, with one round-trip scheduled each week.
At Yangpu Port, the largest cargo port in the Hainan FTP, mega-ships berthing in quick succession, gantry cranes operating around the clock, and container trucks moving in tightly coordinated flows have become a routine sight.
"Yangpu will shoulder the role of the main logistics gateway of the Hainan FTP," said Yang Xiaobin, deputy head of the Transportation, Port and Waterway Bureau of Yangpu Economic Development Zone. "The port aims to build a smart and green international shipping hub and logistics center."
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Container throughput at Yangpu reached 3.31 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2025, up more than 65 percent from a year earlier.
"It is particularly noteworthy that the Hainan FTP launched island-wide special customs operations at a time of intensifying deglobalization and rising global uncertainty," said Cui Weijie, deputy director of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, a think tank with the Ministry of Commerce.
"It not only demonstrates China's unwavering commitment to high-standard opening up, but also injects greater certainty and positive momentum into the global economy and international trade cooperation," Cui said.