SANYA, April 6. /TASS/. The number of high-tech companies in China's Hainan province has increased fivefold since 2016 and reached almost 1,000 by March 2021. According to the People's Daily, the regional authorities plan to help increase their number to more than 3,000 by 2025.

Taking advantage of the unique advantages of Hainan, such as access to the ocean, an abundance of sunlight and heat, as well as its location in low geographic latitudes (proximity to the equator reduces the cost of launching spacecraft — TASS), the province is investing in the development of three areas: deep sea research, crop production and aerospace.

One of the leading roles in the region's innovative development is played by the science city of Yazhou Bay located in Sanya. Over the past two years, the number of new companies registered in this technopolis has exceeded 2,200. By the end of 2020, their total number amounted to almost 3.2 thousand.

Yazhou Bay Technopolis is engaged in scientific and technical research and development, as well as innovative manufacturing in the fields of finance, IT, space exploration, medical equipment, agriculture, deep sea technology and other fields.

Yazhou Bay Science City is part of the Chinese government's program to create Hainan's free trade zone and port. The local administration has approved the status of a zone for the development of new high technologies for this scientific cluster. According to the government's plan, Yazhou Bay technopolis should become a top-notch economic development zone, integrating technological innovation and industrial production.