HAIKOU /China/, November 3. /TASS/. Hainan's key deep-water port Yangpu and its adjacent industrial cluster have been granted official status as a model innovative import development zone of the PRC. This was announced by China's Ministry of Commerce on Thursday.

Thus, Yangpu was included in the nationwide list of several dozen sites of strategic importance, whose main task is to ensure the growth of the country's foreign trade turnover through innovation. In addition, this industrial area now has other goals - to stimulate cross-border inter-industry cooperation and strengthen the national consumer sector.

With its new status, Yangpu is expected to play an even bigger role in the government's strategy to enhance China's openness.

Yangpu is located in Danzhou City (in the northwestern part of the island), administratively directly under the Hainan authorities. It accounts for about 45% of the province's foreign trade and about 20% of the foreign investment it attracts.

This special economic development port zone plays an important role in the development of China's transportation network: according to the Chinese government's plan, by 2035, Yangpu will become a key point in distributing the flow of cargo from different regions of the country to Southeast Asia and Oceania, Europe and North America. By 2025, it is expected to become a transportation hub of regional importance, with up to 5 million containers passing through it annually.