HAIKOU — Southern China's island province of Hainan saw an increase in the number of market entities in the first three quarters of this year, particularly after the release of a master plan for the Hainan free trade port.

In the January-September period, Hainan had 201,000 new market entities, up 22.91 percent year-on-year, including 98,700 new enterprises, up 106.66 percent year-on-year, according to the provincial market supervision administration.

As of September, the province had a total of 1,091,400 market entities, including 394,000 enterprises and 697,400 self-employed persons.

In recent years, Hainan has taken a series of measures to optimize its business environment. On June 1, a plan that aims to build the province into a high-level free trade port was released, attracting more domestic and overseas investors to start businesses in Hainan.

In June alone, the province added more than 23,300 market entities, a year-on-year increase of more than 52.3 percent.