Xi encourages Hainan to boost tourism

President Xi Jinping has encouraged south China's Hainan province to boost tourism development and build itself into an international tourism island. His remarks came as he toured the island after attending the Boao Forum for Asia.

The president says accelerating the island's international tourism development is an important initiative of the central government and a big opportunity for the province.

President Xi urged local leaders to deepen reform, and work hard to achieve the goal. Xi made special note of the region's ecological construction. He pointed out that protecting the environment also serves to improve productivity. He hopes Hainan could maintain the balance between economic growth and environmental preservation.

The president also inspected the island's fishing port, the special agricultural industrial zone and international passenger liner port. He also urged the local government to speed up the transformation of the region's economic development mode, improve people's livelihood and change the leaders' work style.