Hainan Special: Not just beaches, but balance in business

While the booming tourism industry has brought fame and prosperity to Sanya, this tropical city is now shifting its focus to more balanced development, according to its mayor Wang Yong.

Wang told the Sanya People's Congress on Feb 27 that the government will give more support to modern service industries such as creativity, finance and real estate, while consolidating city's traditional economic pillar of tourism.

He highlighted the financial sector, noting the city government recently released new preferential policies to support the industry's development.

Incentives include help with land when financial institutions invest in new office buildings and direct subsidies to domestic and foreign companies when they open regional headquarters in Sanya.

Sanya's Party chief Jiang Sixian said previously that he hopes the financial industry to become one of the local economic mainstays.

A milestone in 2012 was the new life insurance headquarters for Sunshine Insurance Group - one of the top seven in the country - that opened in Sanya on Dec 17.

It is the first headquarters of a national-level financial institution in Hainan province.

Other significant events for the year included the Asia Financial Cooperation Association that was registered in the city and the establishment of the Sanya Rural Commercial Bank, as well as new branches for Minsheng Bank and China Development Bank.

The city is now home to operations by 10 banks, 14 insurance companies and three securities companies.

Mayor Wang Yong said the city's creative industry also made headway last year in the construction on the third phase of the Sanya Animation Industrial Park.

When completed in 2015, Wang said the facility will attract some 300 new enterprises, create 5,000 jobs and generate revenues of 1 billion yuan.

He said the government also expects the tourism industry to be expanded with new growth areas including development of top-market amenities.

In 2012, the city government of Sanya endorsed a plan proposed by the local tourism administration for developing luxury yacht and cruise line businesses.

The plan said Sanya should build a harbor for cruisers and a major yachting venue in the next few years that would be among the top in China and Asia.

Last year, 170 cruise ships from home and abroad visited Sanya, an 88 percent increase from 2011.

Contact the writers through huangyiming@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 03/12/2013 page12)