China's Hainan Free Trade Port has launched its first direct cargo route to Africa, as a B767-300 freighter carrying 48 tonnes of goods departed from Haikou, south China's Hainan Province, on Thursday. Operated by Kenya's Astral Aviation, the weekly Haikou–Nairobi–Johannesburg route is expected to boost cross-border e-commerce and foreign trade, linking Hainan more closely to African and global logistics networks.