HAIKOU /China/, May 30. /TASS/. Authorities of the southern Chinese province of Hainan are actively promoting the construction of a circular tourist road around the island. According to the Hainan Daily newspaper, the highway will run through 84 scenic locations.
According to the newspaper, the construction of the tourist circular highway is the largest infrastructure project within the framework of the Hainan free trade port project, as well as a significant development project designed to turn the island into an international tourism and consumption center.
The highway will pass through 84 scenic locations in nine different categories, the article said. Some of the landscape parks are already open, some have yet to be developed.
The newspaper reports that as of May 12, the volume of investments used in road construction reached 7.17 billion yuan (about $1.07 billion), accounting for 49.8% of the total planned investment.
The construction of the 997-kilometer road was approved by the provincial government in September 2020. The planned investments will total about 16.7 billion yuan (about $2.5 billion). The road will pass through 12 cities and counties in the province. These include such major centers as Haikou, Sanya and Qionghai. The route will be designed to allow tourists to see all the island's main attractions, scenic coves and bays, mountain ranges, national parks, and economic development zones.
By 2025, the Chinese government intends to create an "international center for tourism and consumption" on Hainan. In order to do so, the "Eastern Hawaii" with their unique natural landscapes, thick rainforests and great climate will establish a developed network of hotels, which blend perfectly with white sandy beaches stretching along the coastline. The combination of an exotic subtropical nature and a modern eco-friendly infrastructure will boost tourist inflow to the island from the most distant parts of the world. n 2021, Hainan Island welcomed more than 81 million Chinese and foreign tourists, an increase of 25.5% year on year. Revenue of the tourism industry grew by 58.6% to 138.4 billion yuan (about $21.8 billion).