HAIKOU — Construction of 142 projects involving a total investment of 37.3 billion yuan ($5.85 billion) started on Jan 6 in South China's Hainan free trade port.

The projects include 49 industrial projects, or 65 percent of the total, with a combined input of 24.4 billion yuan.

A batch of major scientific research projects were among the highlights of the announced industrial projects.

An advanced technology and industrial innovation platform is expected to be built in Hainan's Sanya, helping to integrate technology centers covering research on intelligent electromechanical equipment, marine information detection, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) micro-nano satellites and deep-sea engineering.

China's Shenergy Group plans to invest 1 billion yuan in a wind power equipment project in the Yangpu Economic Development Zone of the tropical island province. The comprehensive project will cover the fields of high-end equipment manufacturing, offshore wind power, marine pasture and seawater carbon capture. Under the framework of the project, an offshore wind turbine production line is expected to reach an annual output value of about 5 billion yuan.

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