HAIKOU /China/, December 11. /TASS/. South China's Hainan Province is actively implementing a strategy to promote comprehensive development of key industrial sectors, Xinhua News Agency reported.
According to the agency, this includes aerospace, breeding, deep-sea marine and environmental projects, as well as a program to introduce advanced digital technologies. Many cities and counties in Hainan are involved, providing a wide territorial coverage for the development of new productive forces, which, according to the official position of China's top leadership, will ensure the intensive and sustainable growth of the Chinese economy.
The provincial administration is noted to be focusing on exploring and implementing measures to form the Hainan Free Trade Port. Thus, the authorities are actively attracting and effectively utilizing a number of important strategic resources, combined with innovative measures to strengthen openness and expand the list of preferences for both large and small enterprises.
Yazhou Bay Science and Technology City, located in Sanya City on the south coast of the island, is home to major seed laboratories, the report said. As a result of their fruitful work, the China National Seed Group Corporation grows more than 60 varieties of rice at a neighboring site. According to official estimates, more than 70% of the seed samples of the country's major crops have come from southern breeding research and production projects, in which Hainan plays a key role. The authorities estimate that the output of the relevant segment of the province will exceed 12 billion yuan ($1.67 billion at current exchange rates) in 2023.
Maritime economy, space and digitalization
The report explained that an area of about 2 million square kilometers of the South China Sea is part of Hainan Province. Its average depth reaches about 1.2 thousand meters, the maximum depth is 5.5 kilometers. This makes it possible to develop deep-water energy and scientific and technological projects.
In 2021, the Shenhai-1 deep-water semi-submersible floating platform will be put into operation near the island, with an annual gas production of more than 4.5 billion cubic meters. It supplies energy resources to the southern province of Guangdong and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau. Manned submersibles and a number of scientific projects make it possible to explore the most unexplored parts of the sea.
Hainan's favorable geographical location allows the local aerospace industry to develop at an accelerated pace. It is expected that the island will soon become the main commercial space center of the PRC. More than 700 specialized companies are already located near the Wenchang Space Launch Center on the northeast coast of the province. They will form the basis of the production chains needed to create a corresponding advanced cluster for both domestic and international markets.
Other promising areas that are successfully taking shape in Hainan include the computer game industry and the digital economy sector. It is expected that tax incentives and numerous measures to optimize the business environment will continue to attract new companies in this segment to the province.
Thanks to innovation clusters such as Fullsing and the Haikou National Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone, programs related to the Internet of Things, blockchain technology and other promising developments are being successfully implemented. According to statistics, in 2023, the revenue of the province's digital economy industry, represented by more than 52,000 enterprises, will reach 140 billion yuan (about $19.5 billion).
In April 2018, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the establishment of an experimental zone and a free trade port in Hainan. The program aims to involve the island in the process of globalization and international division of labor, and lay a solid foundation for innovation. Local authorities are creating attractive conditions for investors and developing scientific and production infrastructure. According to the government's plan, by 2025, the province's business climate will reach the national level, and by 2050, the region will become a unique international cluster with an advanced economy and a home to the campuses of leading universities, advanced laboratories and headquarters of global corporations.