HAIKOU, July 23  -- Shipping channels around all the inhabited reefs of the Yongle Islands in Sansha City of south China's Hainan Province have been opened, local authorities said Wednesday.

The opening will bring much-needed convenience to fishermen on the islands and means that all shipping channels of the inhabited islands in Xisha Islands, which consists of Xuande and Yongle islands, are in operation, according to Jiang Weiquan, head of the administrative committee of Yongle Islands.

Jiang said in the following three years, Sansha City plans to build ports around the islands, which will help boost tourism and harbor large sewage and supply ships.

Sansha City, on Yongxing, one of the Xisha islands, was officially established in July 2012 to administer Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha island groups and their surrounding waters in the South China Sea.