The healing powers of ‘China’s Hawaii’

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03:27

The sunshine and beaches of China’s Hainan Province attract almost 70 million visitors a year.

But since May, people from the Chinese mainland have had an extra reason to visit China's "Hawaii."

Twenty-six-year-old Li Zhujin and her fiancée are among the so-called “vaccine visitors."

“I come here because apart from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, this is the only place in China that can provide the 9-valent HPV vaccine which can prevent cervical cancer,” she says.

Dr. Xiong Xiaobo talks to a patient who wants to have 9-valent HPV vaccine. /CGTN Photo

United Family Healthcare (UFH), a foreign venture hospital, is now providing the vaccination service.

It was one of the early actions taken by Hainan after Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that the island would become the nation’s first Free Trade Port.

The 9-valent HPV vaccine was the first to come, and cutting-edge anti-cancer drugs will be next.

Xiong Xiaobo, a UFH doctor says they’re now working with the Hainan government to apply for American and European anti-cancer drugs now unavailable in China and bring them to the hospital.

“Soon Chinese cancer patients will be able to use the same medication as their Western counterparts,” he says.

Attracted by Hainan’s reform ambition, Xiaobo and his family moved here a month ago.

But he hopes even more preferential policies, like loans and free housing come along, to support talented individuals to stay for the long-term.

In May, the Hainan government launched a recruitment action plan that will invite a million more such people from home and abroad.

”In the past two months, Hainan has recruited over 10,000 talents,” says Huang Qian, a deputy director of The Department of organization within the CPC Hainan Provincial Committee. “They specialize in mostly the high-end manufacturing and technology areas.”

But a fierce competition for talent is underway between different provinces in China. The country's 11 other free trade zones are also trying to lure more industry leaders and experts.

Huang tells CGTN that Hainan will not compete with them financially, but with their own advantages.

Ji Bingqing (L), a pharmaceutical researcher, came to Hainan from the United States two years ago. /CGTN Photo

Case in point – Ji Bingqing, a pharmaceutical researcher. He came to Hainan from the United States two years ago.

“The sky and air here are as good as in the US,” he says. “But clearly just relying on nature and surroundings is not enough.”

Ji's company, Qilu Pharmaceutical, gave him a platform that allows him to form a team doing his own research. But experts say it will take more than incentives to recruit more people like him.

Yan Zimeng, Qilu’s Vice General Manager outlines two major areas that could be improved.

”First of all, the free trade port should establish a visa system allowing a much more free flow of people in and out of Hainan,” he explains. “Secondly, the port should build an Internet environment seamlessly and simultaneously connected with the rest of the world.”

In June, Hainan announced a bold plan to open Google, Facebook and Twitter connections to foreign visitors in certain cities.

Similar changes are expected down the road.