As a pivotal point on the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, Hainan province is working out a whole new set of plans to enhance its integrated transportation network and to boost exchanges with the outside world against the backdrop of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Last year, Hainan opened or resumed 30 overseas air routes, with 9,970 flights departing from or landing on the island. The province's airports brought in 1.08 million overseas tourists, up 41.9 percent year-on-year.

In the first five months of this year, another eight air routes were opened or resumed. This means the province now has around 60 overseas air routes, covering 15 countries and regions including Japan, Thailand and South Korea.

Lu Zhiyuan, secretary-general of the Hainan Provincial People's Government, said the increase in international air routes is part of Hainan's efforts to build a multimodel transportation system, with seamless connections and zero transfers.

"This is to advance regional integration and further upgrade the island's infrastructure as a world-class international tourist destination," Lu said.

Hainan has constructed four civilian airports: Haikou Meilan, Sanya Phoenix and Qionghai Boao international airports, and Sansha Yongxing Airport. The Haikou Meilan and Sanya Phoenix international airports were listed on Skytrax's 2016 four-star airports.

"The renovation and expansion of Hainan's three international airports - Meilan in Haikou, Phoenix in Sanya and Boao in Qionghai - are underway, and will be completed this year or next year," said the secretary-general.

Adjacent to the Chinese mainland and facing Southeast Asian countries, Hainan has a special geographical advantage in reaching a large number of regions within a three-hour flight: Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, the Pearl River region, the Yangtze River region and Southeast Asian countries.

On the road

In addition to flight connections, Hainan is also building a round-the-island coastal tourism highway, linking all the cities, counties, towns and even villages on the island to support the province's all-encompassing tourism projects.

Official statistics show that by the end of 2016, the province's highways and expressways totaled 26,860 kilometers and 803 km, respectively.

The province has also upgraded its railway systems in recent years. The world's sole high-speed around-the-island railway was completed and opened to passengers in 2015, connecting 12 cities and counties. In 2016, the round-the-island high-speed railway carried 21.78 million passengers.

Six cross-sea passenger rail routes have opened: Sanya-Beijing West, Haikou-Shanghai South, Haikou-Xi'an, Haikou-Zhengzhou, Haikou-Changchun and Haikou-Harbin. "We plan to develop rail transit systems in Haikou and the Greater Sanya Tourism and Economic Circle to accelerate regional integration," said Lu.

Logistics and trade

Hainan, with the ocean economy as a pillar industry, is also striving to advance the integration of ports and shipping businesses, optimizing their functions across the province and building an international multimodal transportation system.

The island province boasts five national first-grade ports: Haikou Port in the north, Sanya Port in the south, Qinglan Port in the east and Yangpu Port and Basuo Port in the west. Together, these form the layout of "five ports in four directions".

By the end of 2016, there were 120 productive berths across these ports, including 50 over-10,000-metric-ton deep-water berths, with 15 in Haikou Port, 23 in Yangpu Port, nine in Basuo Port and three in Sanya Port.

Bulk cargo from Hainan can be directly shipped to destinations all over the world or through transfer ports in Shanghai, Tianjin, Shenzhen, Xiamen and Hong Kong. In 2016, the province achieved cargo throughput of 150 million tons and container throughput of 152 million twenty-foot equivalent units.

It also carried 17.3 million passengers through water-based transport.

On its way to establishing a modern logistics industry, Hainan has committed to: strengthening logistics infrastructure and service facilities; establishing trading centers for energy, rubber, jewelry and other commodities; developing bonded logistics, cross-border e-commerce; and promoting logistics innovation and resource integration.

The province is now nearly covered by broadband service networks thanks to its efforts to build an intelligent island.

Hainan is ready to invest 23.2 billion yuan ($3.4 million) to further upgrade its power supply networks and facilities over the next few years.

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