HONG KONG • China’s southern most province of Hainan is getting a package of favourable policies covering tourism, duty-free shopping and medical services that’s designed to help transform the island into an international tourism destination.

Hainan, often billed as China’s Hawaii, will become a “free trade port”, China National Radio reported last Friday. The upgraded status is an economic distinction that’s aimed to help boost the region’s economy.

China is seeking a break- through in Hainan’s opening and welcomes global investors to the island, according to the report, which cited a speech by President Xi Jin-ping. Hainan will set up a trial free-trade zone and will prioritise tourism, medical services and the financial sector, according to the report. Hainan will also adopt more open duty-free shopping policies, and inter- national flight routes will be increased, it said.

The plan is aimed to boost domestic and foreign tourists to Hainan, where entrepreneurs and real estate developers have been pouring in billions of dollars to build resorts and shopping centres that have stayed mostly empty despite its white beaches. The news is expected to be a boon for the economy of the province.

About 67 million tourists visited Hainan last year, helping to grow its tourism industry to 81 billion yuan (RM50.45 billion). Still, only about 1.1 million were overseas visitors, which pales in comparison to Asia’s tourism destinations in Vietnam and Thailand. — Bloomberg