China's southern province of Hainan Saturday set up an intellectual property (IP) exchange as the latest measure to support the construction of its pilot free-trade zone.

The IP International Exchange of Hainan (IPEH), located in the provincial capital of Haikou, aims to become the largest IP trading place in China, with its trade volume expected to surpass 1 trillion yuan (about 143 billion U.S. dollars) in the next five years.

Chen Yang, head of Hainan's financial supervision and administration bureau, said the exchange is being encouraged to explore measures to facilitate cross-border trade of IP rights and attract domestic and overseas tech and innovative firms to settle and trade in the province.

It is also expected to spur the upgrading of industries and ease financing difficulties for small and medium-sized enterprises through IP financing, Chen said.

Hainan was approved in April 2018 to build a pilot free-trade zone covering the whole island and explore the establishment of a free-trade port with Chinese characteristics.

Read more: China publishes plan for Hainan free trade zone