China's tropical island tourism revenue up 13% in 2015

HAIKOU - China's southernmost tropical island province of Hainan reaped 57.25 billion yuan ($8.79 billion) in tourism revenue last year, up 13 percent year on year, local authorities announced on Friday.

More than 53 million tourists flocked to Hainan for its warm climate, tropical forests and beaches in 2015, up 11.4 percent from the previous year, according to the provincial tourism development commission.

Hainan is a top winter holiday destination for people from the chilly northeast of China and Russia.

The island expects to welcome 58.69 million tourists in 2016, including 640,000 from overseas, to ring up 65 billion yuan in tourist revenue, according to the commission.

The goal of making Hainan an "international tourism island" was set by the central government in 2010.

According to a draft of Hainan's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020), more than 80 million tourists, including 1.2 million from overseas, are expected to visit the island in 2020, with total tourism revenue set to surpass 100 billion yuan by then.