For companies exploring the Hainan market, entrepreneurs starting out with a small team, and business travelers in need of a professional workspace for a short-term engagement and flexibility can be just as important as location.

The newly opened Regus Haikou Center aims to meet these needs by providing fully equipped offices and workstations that can be rented for periods ranging from several hours to longer terms.

The center officially began operations in Haikou, the provincial capital of the island province in Southern China in late September, marking Regus' first business center in the city.

Why Regus Is Entering Hainan Now

As a brand under IWG, a global leader in flexible workspace solutions, the launch raises an important question: Why has Regus chosen this moment to expand into Hainan?

According to Su Hongtao, head of the Regus Haikou Center, the immediate driver is the accelerating pace of business activity in Hainan, fueled by the policies of the Hainan Free Trade Port.

"As the development of the Hainan FTP continues to advance, Hainan is increasingly becoming a buzzword in the business world," Su said.

"That has also drawn the attention of Regus."

The trend is reflected in the latest business-registration figures. In the first half of this year, Hainan registered 124,700 new enterprises, up 90.09 percent year on year. Among them, 1,303 were newly established foreign-funded enterprises, representing an increase of 38.62 percent from a year earlier.

"These figures show that more and more companies are looking to establish a presence in Hainan," Su said. "As policies supporting the FTP become increasingly comprehensive — including reforms to facilitate the registration of foreign-funded enterprises and the implementation of cross-regional mutual recognition mechanisms — more companies are expected to set up operations here. This means significant market potential for us in Hainan."

Su's own experience has also reflected the growing interest.

As more of IWG's clients began considering opening branches in Hainan, many of them initially needed only a small-scale workspace. Inquiries about whether Regus had a business center in Hainan therefore became increasingly frequent.

"In the past, we might not have received even one such inquiry in a month. Over the past year, however, we've been receiving one or two inquiries every week," Su said.

"The FTP's policies are attracting companies to Hainan, and those companies are generating new demand. IWG's decision to enter Hainan at this point is, in many ways, a natural response to that trend."

Flexible Workspace for Businesses Entering Hainan

Backed by IWG's global network, what exactly can the Regus Haikou Center offer entrepreneurs and companies operating in Hainan?

Unlike conventional business incubators or fixed-term office leasing models, Regus provides flexible workspace solutions tailored to different business needs.

The Regus Haikou Center occupies approximately 1,500 square meters and follows Regus' standardized global interior design and service standards. It provides a range of services, including front-desk reception, meeting-room reservations and business support.

The center has 60 private offices and around 200 workstations, offering spaces for day-to-day operations, business meetings and negotiations.

Entrepreneurs and companies can rent an entire office or simply a workstation, with rental periods ranging from longer-term arrangements to as little as half a day.

The flexibility is further supported by IWG's global network, which spans more than 120 countries and regions. Members can access and rent space at approximately 4,700 IWG locations around the world, allowing them to maintain a professional working environment without having to search for a new office every time they enter a different market.

"Put simply, Regus is characterized by globalization, membership and flexibility," Su said.

Adding a New Link to Hainan's Business-Service Chain

The opening of the Regus Haikou Center also adds a new dimension to the business-service ecosystem of the Hainan FTP.

A representative of Haikou's Xiuying District, where the center is located, said the center helps address the demand among companies entering Hainan and individuals starting businesses for lightweight and flexible office space, reducing the uncertainty and decision-making pressure involved in establishing a presence on the island.

In this sense, the center can serve as a "buffer" for companies exploring the Hainan market before making larger, longer-term commitments.

The representative noted that in April this year, the Global Service Center – Hainan Station was established at the same address, providing an integrated platform combining business services, policy consultation and resource connections.

The two facilities serve complementary functions.

The Global Service Center – Hainan Station focuses more on government services, policy consultation and connections with industry resources, while the Regus Haikou Center provides an international workspace and professional operational services.

Together, they extend the building's service offering beyond conventional office leasing to cover a broader range of functions, including government liaison, business operations and resource coordination.

Companies based at the site can connect with local government services, tap into the surrounding business ecosystem and access value-added services such as business registration and tax services, legal consultation, and investment and financing matchmaking. At the same time, the international-standard workspace enables companies to begin operations as soon as they establish a presence in Hainan.

Both projects are located in the core area around the Xinhai Port on the western coast of the city, close to the Xinhai Port transportation hub and CDF Haikou International Duty-Free City. Companies operating from the center can therefore benefit from the area's growing logistics connections, international passenger flows and duty-free consumer market, further strengthening the business advantages of the New Haikou Port area as a gateway for international engagement.

Policies that accelerate foreign-funded enterprise registration and support one-person companies ultimately need to translate into tangible experiences — an office, a workstation or a professional place to work for a few hours in another city.

The Regus Haikou Center provides precisely such a link in the Hainan FTP's evolving business-service chain, helping bridge the gap between policy-driven market attraction and actual business operations on the ground.