In March, the Haikou Airport Comprehensive Bonded Zone—a key industrial park in the Hainan Free Trade Port—saw a breakthrough in combined policy implementation in the aircraft leasing business. A US$3.66 million AW109SP helicopter became the first aircraft imported and leased under both the bonded leasing and zero-tariff preferential policies, establishing a new business pathway and delivering tangible cost savings to Hainan companies.

Under current regulations, the bonded leasing mechanism allows eligible leasing companies located inside Hainan’s comprehensive bonded zones to conduct cross-border business with the use of tax-suspended goods (in this case, a helicopter) as leased assets. Meanwhile, the zero-tariff policy allows qualified imported aircraft designated for transportation and tourism operations to be exempted from import tariffs, value-added tax (VAT), and consumption tax.

Through this type of transaction, the leasing company is able to take advantage of the bonded leasing mechanism to import aircraft, then transfer it via lease agreements to qualified operators eligible for zero-tariff concessions. This enables the leasing company to defer tax obligations, while the operators gain cost-effective access to tariff-exempt aircraft through phased payment schedules, alleviating operational cost pressures across the leasing chain.

"This is a perfect combination of the ‘bonded zone’ and ‘zero tariff’ policies. This way, previously prohibitive tax costs for aircraft imports have been transformed into shared efficiency gains for both lessors and operators," said the manager of Haikou Lanle Leasing, which is located in the Haikou Airport Comprehensive Bonded Zone.

To facilitate this transaction milestone, Haikou Customs established a dedicated task force providing customized supervision plans and a streamlined documentation process for registration and declaration.