Sansha city welcomes private investment in construction

HAIKOU - Sansha, China's southernmost island city that administers vast island groups and their surrounding waters in the South China Sea, is inviting private investors to support infrastructure construction projects this year, a senior municipal official said Friday.

The city will welcome private investment and will initiate public-private-partnership programs, said Feng Wenhai, deputy mayor of Sansha, at the ongoing municipal people's congress, or the municipal legislature.

Sansha will launch a regular flight service in 2016 at an airport on Yongxing Island, where the city government is based. It also plans to build docks on inhabited islands and reefs, according to Feng.

The city will also push forward the planning and construction of a maritime medical rescue center. Submarine optical cables will be laid and put into use this year, and WiFi will cover all inhabited islands and reefs, he said.

Sansha currently has 119 registered enterprises and 110 individual businesses that paid taxes totaling more than 700 million yuan (106.6 million U.S. dollars) in 2015, said Feng.

Sansha was officially established in 2012 to administer the Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha island groups and their surrounding waters in the South China Sea.