Island eyes more worldwide cooperation

Hainan will accelerate its opening up by involving itself more closely in economic globalization and the Belt and Road Initiative, enlarging its international friends circle and establish a Pan South China Sea international trade center and logistic hub in the next five years, said Shen Xiaoming, governor of Hainan.

The tropical province has been striving to opening-up since it was established in 1988.

So far, Hainan has established sister relationships with 56 overseas provinces and cities worldwide, including Hawaii in the United States, South Korea's Jeju Special Autonomous Province, Canada's Prince Edward Island, Finland's Oulu Province and the state of Penang in Malaysia.

Hainan will continue to take advantage of the Bo'ao Forum for Asia and the Roundtable Meeting on China-Africa Cooperation to seek new opportunities to promote the development of the island province and to serve the general diplomacy of the nation, the governor said.

The BFA, launched in 2001, has become an important international platform for Hainan to showcase itself and gain global attention.

To be held from April 8 to 11 this year, Hainan will host 11 themed events, including the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and Island Economy sub-forum, the ASEAN-China governors' and mayors' dialogue as well as the Hainan promotion conference, which are expected to draw important delegates from Southeast Asian countries and domestic provinces.

According to the government report addressed to the annual provincial people's congress that concluded on Wednesday, Hainan will foster a number of industries, each of which will generate more than 100 billion yuan ($15.78 billion) in output value by 2020.

The province will focus on tropical high-efficiency agriculture, tourism, the internet and marine industries to create greater opportunities for both Chinese and overseas firms.

A more vibrant mechanism and more favorable business environment for international enterprises will be created, said Shen.

Hainan will also promote the development of a headquarters economy to attract more multinational companies, operation centers and accounting centers to the island.

Since China's launch of the Belt and Road Initiative, HNA, a Hainan-based aviation group, has opened around 70 international routes connecting involved countries in total, it has opened more than 1,000 domestic and international routes. The group now provides 290,000 jobs overseas.

Hainan's advanced technology in agriculture has also entered the international market. The Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center in Congo was built with support from Hainan University in 2007 with the project named as a model for agricultural cooperation between China and the Republic of Congo by the leaders of the African nation.

According to Haikou Customs, the province's total export value reached 29.57 billion yuan in 2017, an increase of 110 percent year-on-year.

While deepening its economic cooperation with Belt and Road countries, Hainan has also reached out to cooperate with the region in different fields.

The province has sent doctors to Cambodia to provide medical services to local people in need. A total of 543 cataract patients have regained their sight in the past two years thanks to the Hainan Cambodia Brightness Action campaign.

The Chinese island province has also organized international training workshops on the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of major diseases in ASEAN countries.

Since 2012, a total of 92 doctors from 15 countries including Brunei, Mongolia, Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Pakistan, India, Myanmar and Iran have taken part in Hainan-hosted 20-day training courses in six medical fields, including the treatment of inherited blood disorders and applications of molecular genetics technology for prenatal diagnosis.

"The training courses have not only helped the trainees to improve their practical operation ability for major diseases in tropical areas, but also promoted communication between Hainan and the participating countries," said Chen Shaohua, an official from the Hainan science and technology department.

(China Daily 02/02/2018 page6)