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Hainan's investment in road construction, waterway development exceeds $3 billion in 2021

The province will fast-track transportation projects this year to help build Hainan's free trade port

HAIKOU /China/, January 21. /TASS/. Fixed capital investments in road construction and waterway development in the southern Chinese province of Hainan amounted to 19.3 billion yuan (about $3.04 billion) in 2021, the Hainan Daily reported.

According to the newspaper, a segment of the road from Wuzhishan city to Baoting-Li Miao autonomous county in the south of the island, and a segment of the highway from the Meilan International Airport in Haikou (provincial capital) to Yanfeng village in the north of the island were opened last year, in particular. In addition, the article noted that the construction of a number of projects, including an expressway from Lingao County in the north of Hainan to the city of Wenchang in the northeast of the island, are fast-tracked.

As Hainan Daily notes, the province will fast-track transportation projects in 2022 to facilitate the construction of Hainan's free trade port.

On June 1, 2020, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese State Council published a program to establish a free trade port in Hainan. The document provides for the creation of a special customs zone on this tropical island. The PRC authorities plan to complete the construction of the free port on the territory of the province in 2025, by which time the island should be built a system of free trade and investment. By 2035, Hainan is expected have free of trade and investment, cross-border capital flows, entry and exit of people, and freight transportation.

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