The Shimei Bay section of Wanning Coastal Highway (Hainan Daily)

HAIKOU /China/, October 19. /TASS/. Authorities of the southern Chinese province of Hainan will invest 6 billion yuan (about $ 933 million) in the construction of a circular tourist highway around the island in 2021, according to the Hainan Daily.

Local government decided to intensify work on this project in the next 80 days and achieve attracting the set volume of investments in the construction of the road. To date, according to the newspaper, 438.7 kilometers of land has already been cleared for the construction of the highway. In total, 511.6 km should be cleared.

More than 2.6 thousand people are currently involved in the construction of the road, as well as more than 960 units of large construction equipment. By early October, 3.36 billion yuan (about $522.5 million) had already been invested in the project, which is 56% of the planned volume for the year.

The construction of the 997-kilometer road was approved by the provincial government in September 2020. The planned investments will total about 16.7 billion yuan (about $2.5 billion). The road will pass through 12 cities and counties in the province. These include such major centers as Haikou, Sanya and Qionghai. The route will be laid in such a way that tourists can see all the island's main attractions, picturesque gulfs and bays, mountain ranges, national parks, as well as economic development zones.

This project is aimed to promote the program of turning the island into an international center of tourism and consumption.