Hainan plans to boost strategic seed breeding and space projects

According to the newspaper, Hainan will have a system which will assign functions to research and production enterprises by 2025. The key role is assigned to two innovation clusters located in the province's administrative center in Haikou and in the resort town of Sanya on the southern coast of the island. The authorities will focus on the development of three strategic areas - plant breeding, aerospace technology and deep-sea projects.

Hainan is already playing a significant role among the regions of China that are intensively developing the research sector, the document noted. There are 16 innovation sites of the national level on the territory of the island. The authorities intend to constantly raise the level of technological equipment of the local production base.

According to the program, the island has already over 3 thousand high-tech enterprises with the annual revenue exceeding 250 billion yuans (over 39 billion at the current exchange rate) and the value of goods and services produced in 12 months is 800 billion yuans (about $ 126 billion). It is expected that the gross product of the branches connected with seed production, deep-water and aerospace projects will exceed 35 billion yuans ($5.5 billion) in the nearest future.

The innovation clusters in Haikou and Sanya are actively establishing cooperation with other advanced development zones, in particular the Wenchang International Aerospace City in northeast Hainan, and the port of Yangpu (northwest of the province), whose importance in the global maritime transportation system is constantly growing, according to the newspaper.

On April 13, 2018, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the establishment of an experimental free trade zone and port on the island. The goal of the program is to bring Hainan into the process of globalization and international labor distribution, and to lay a solid foundation for innovation. The provincial government is creating an attractive environment for investors and creating a well-developed research infrastructure. According to the government's plan, by 2050 the region will become a unique cluster with an advanced economy, with campuses of leading universities, advanced laboratories and headquarters of leading multinational corporations.