China opens Hainan Province to foreign yachts for first time

South China’s Hainan Province is opening eight coastal waters for temporary entry and exit for foreign yachts, commencing next week (16^th July) and continuing through to January 2020.

Hainan is the first to introduce the temporary opening of the waters.

Ultimately hoping to increase global tourism, China plans to ease restrictions on its offshore duty-free policy and develop cross-border cruise tourism, according to XinhuaNet.com.

The government also asked the provincial port office to urge related departments to be vigilant in ensuring yachts strictly comply with the laws and regulations on temporarily entering and leaving the waters.

China is targeting yacht destination tourism as an area of growth. It does not currently have a great yacht market, as the communist government of Xi Jinping discourages extravagant displays of wealth.

China plans to eventually build the island province into an influential tourism and consumption destination worldwide by 2035.

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