Hainan to build comprehensive transport system by 2025

BEIJING -- China will hasten the building of a modern and comprehensive transport system in the southern island province of Hainan, the country's top economic planner said.

By 2025, Hainan will have five civilian airports and establish a comprehensive system with Haikou Meilan International Airport, Sanya Phoenix International Airport and Qionghai Boao International Airport as its core and other airports supplementing them, according to a plan released by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

The plan also targets 40 million passenger trips a year for Hainan's high-speed railways and 40,000 km of highways in the province.

The plan will enhance Hainan's role as a free trade port, an ecological civilization pilot zone and an international tourism and shopping center, the NDRC said.

On June 1, China released a master plan for the Hainan free trade port, aiming to build the province into a globally-influential high-level free trade port by the middle of the century.