HAIKOU, Dec. 2 -- On Friday, a chartered plane loaded with cross-border e-commerce goods worth a total of 8.22 million yuan (1.16 million U.S. dollars) departed from south China's Hainan Province for Dallas in the United States, marking the launch of a new all-cargo air route.

It is Hainan's first all-cargo air route to the United States, said Haikou Customs. Its maiden flight departed from the Meilan international airport in Haikou, the provincial capital.

In June 2020, China released a master plan to build Hainan into a globally influential and high-level free trade port by the middle of the century.

Making use of its international airports, Hainan is stepping up efforts to build itself into a regional gateway hub for aviation to the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean, according to the customs office.