Hainan to showcase its gains in innovation, environment

Hainan Province, as a free trade port in south China, has adopted an innovation-driven development strategy with a focus on science and technology while sparing no effort to protect and enhance the ecology.

It has been invited to be the Province of Honor at the 2022 Pujiang Innovation Forum. It will share its experience in exploring the direction and path of global low-carbon innovation and development.

As an island, Hainan regards ecological and environmental protection as its top priority.

It integrates the country's "double carbon" goal of peak carbon emissions by 2030 and neutrality by 2060 into the overall layout of economic and social development of the free trade port.

Hainan aims to achieve a green, low-carbon and circular economy by improving resource utilization through optimizing industry, energy and transportation.

Green island

Its efforts in building a national ecological civilization pilot zone have paid off with a number of key projects.

The Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park was among the first batch of parks recognized as a national park. The Hainan gibbon, on the verge of extinction, has seen a rebound in population for three consecutive years. The use of clean energy and the number of clean-energy vehicles are leading in the country. The province took the national lead in enforcing a stricter plastic ban, and has seen its area of prefabricated buildings double for four consecutive years.

It has rolled out programs co-governing sewage treatment, water supply protection, drainage, flood prevention, water saving and seawater quality.

'Land, sea and air' highlands

Hainan places scientific and technological innovation at the core of its development as a free trade port, creating the three "innovation highlands" of "land, sea and air" with its Futuristic City, Deep-sea Science City and Wenchang International Aerospace City.

At Futuristic City, a major innovation platform has been built with the Yazhou Bay Seed Laboratory at the forefront of the nation's seed industry.

In the deep-sea scientific research, a number of major missions have been accomplished, such as the deep-sea manned submersible "Striver."

China's 10,000-meter diving frequencies and the number of divers have leapt to the top of the world, and its marine science and technology have advanced from the deep sea to the polar.

In the aerospace industry, Hainan will accelerate the construction of public platforms for scientific and technological innovation. Construction has started for the country's first commercial space launch site.

A number of space science and technology innovation platforms will be built covering rockets, satellites and data.

Hainan's land, sea and air advantages are rapidly turning into industrial advantages. The future-oriented industries are expected to provide a strong new driving force for the high quality development of the free trade port.

With its innovation driving capacity building, the number of high-tech enterprises in the province has increased by more than 40 percent annually in the past five years.

Magnet for talent

Hainan regards talent as crucial for development. It has built strong talent management policies, offers incentives and has established a market-oriented talent evaluation mechanism.

It has introduced a new examination and approval process for foreigners' work and residence permits to make the free trade zone a magnet for global professionals.

As the Province of Honor at the 2022 Pujiang Innovation Forum, Hainan will get deeply involved in various activities and increase its regional cooperation with sister provinces on innovation.

It will also foster international exchanges and help promote scientific and technological innovation with a global perspective.