Hainan Special: Island defies global stagnation with surging economic growth

Hainan made steady progress in 2013 despite a stagnant global economy.

Official statistics show that the province's GDP stood at 314.6 billion yuan ($51.22 billion), a nearly 10 percent increase from the previous year, and fixed-asset investment surged 27 percent to hit 272.54 billion yuan in 2013.

The provincial government strengthened economic regulation and came up with a sound economic analysis system, all of which contributed to the achievement, said Hainan Governor Jiang Dingzhi.

He made the remarks in his government work report at the province's people's congress held in February.

A local official said the government is focused on simultaneously promoting Hainan's economic and social development, adding that two of the noteworthy initiatives were infrastructure improvements and government support for local products. Nearly 2,700 projects are under way in the province. Of them, 349 attracted a combined investment of 180 billion yuan last year.

The projects helped cut the urban unemployment rate to 2.17 percent, and urban residents' per capita disposable income grew to 22,929 yuan.

Infrastructure related to quality of life was another major focus-305 km of sewage pipelines were built and the daily water supply capacity of urban areas grew by 25,000 tons. Rural residents are benefiting as well, said local officials. The government earmarked nearly 1.6 billion yuan as agricultural subsidies. It cultivated 38,000 hectares of high-quality arable land, built 102 poultry farms and 258 cooperatives for farmers that year.

The provincial government promoted trade in local agricultural products by establishing representative offices in four cities, including Beijing, and partnered with Internet giant Alibaba to create an online sales platform.

Rural residents' per capita net income stood at 8,343 yuan in 2013, a 12.6 percent increase from the previous year.

The new rural health insurance system now covers 99.19 percent of the province's rural residents.

In addition, the housing built or renovated in 2013 had a combined space of 628,100 sq meters. The number of schooling opportunities for senior middle school students grew by 6,800 in 2013. The province also made ecological progress. People planted more than 30,000 hectares of trees in 2013, and now more than 61 percent of the province is covered in forests. It also closed five paper-producing plants, built 35 garbage centers, and punished six city or county governments and five companies for failing to meet the province's emission requirements.

Governor Jiang also laid out the goals for the government in 2014.

Among others, he expects the GDP to grow by about 10 percent, the government's revenue by 15 percent, and public and private investment in fixed assets by 20 percent this year.

Urban residents' disposal income will increase by 10 percent and their rural counterparts' net income by 11 percent. Also, the government plans to further improve local infrastructure by investing 174 billion yuan in 407 key projects this year.

Contact the writers at lifusheng@chinadaily.com.cn and zengyuqing@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 03/12/2014 page16)