HAIKOU, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- Southern China's island province of Hainan saw an increase in the number of market entities in the first three quarters of this year, particularly after the release of a master plan for the Hainan free trade port.

In the January-September period, Hainan had 201,000 new market entities, up 22.91 percent year on year, including 98,700 new enterprises, up 106.66 percent year on year, according to the provincial market supervision administration.

As of September, the province had a total of 1,091,400 market entities, including 394,000 enterprises and 697,400 self-employed persons.

In recent years, Hainan has taken a series of measures to optimize its business environment. On June 1, a plan that aims to build the province into a high-level free trade port was released, attracting more domestic and overseas investors to start businesses in Hainan.

In June alone, the province added more than 23,300 market entities, a year-on-year increase of more than 52.3 percent.