Hainan Free Trade Port key to modern industrial system

The construction site of the ongoing Haikou International Duty Free City project is seen in Hainan province in March. The project covers a planned area of more than 920,000 square meters. [Photo/China News Service]

Green tech, advanced tourist facilities essential to island province's development

With China expanding many programs to build a modern industrial system that focuses on tourism, high-tech and modern services industries at Hainan Free Trade Port, the country's centrally administrated State-owned enterprises have been rushing to enlarge their market presence at the port this year, said executives.

Three central SOEs from the energy and manufacturing sectors－namely China Datang Corp Ltd, Dongfang Electric Corp Ltd and Power Construction Corp of China－began to build the Hainan Yangpu Offshore Wind Power Industrial Park in Hainan FTP in late April.

The project mainly includes the investment and development of high-end industries such as offshore wind power, hydrogen energy and marine pastures. With a total investment of 4.8 billion yuan ($721.4 million) and a total area of about 70.7 hectares, the industrial park will build an offshore wind power equipment base with an annual output of over 1 million kilowatts.

"The industrial park is expected to create more than 3,000 jobs for locals. Our company will also launch offshore wind power projects with a total investment of over 18 billion yuan," said Zhang Xinyu, deputy director of the offshore wind preparatory department of Datang Hainan Energy Development Co Ltd, a subsidiary of Beijing-based China Datang.

Its annual revenue is expected to reach 12.4 billion yuan, and annual taxes are forecast to be 550 million yuan, after the project is completed and put into operation.

According to the schedule, the first wind turbine of the project is expected to roll off the production line in June 2023, and the project is set to be put into operation in June 2024.

"We plan to invest another 30 billion yuan in energy development in Hainan FTP in the coming years," said Jia Bingjun, chairman of the Datang Hainan Energy Development Co Ltd. "In addition to gas power, we also aim to promote the development of offshore wind power, photovoltaic power as well as hydrogen energy."

Jia said the company has set goals of achieving a total installed capacity of over 5 million kW and becoming the largest green energy supplier in Hainan by the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25).

China unveiled a master plan in June 2020 to build the island of Hainan into a free trade port with Chinese characteristics and global influence by the middle of the century.