A plane of Hainan Airlines lands at Shuangliu airport in Chengdu, Sichuan province. [Photo/China Daily]

Hainan will build a multi-model transportation system, with seamless connections and zero transfers, announced a top official of the Hainan provincial government on Thursday. The aim is to advance regional integration and further upgrade the island's infrastructure as a world-class international tourism destination, according to Lu Zhiyuan, secretary-general of the Hainan Provincial People's Government.

Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2017 on Thursday, he said Hainan will kick off construction of a new airport in the well-known tourist city of Sanya this year. It will serve as an international hub and gateway when it starts operations in 2020.

"Renovation and expansion of Hainan's three airports－Meilan Airport in Haikou, Phoenix Airport in Sanya and Boao Airport－are underway, and will be completed this year or next year," said Lu.

He said Hainan is also busy building a round-the-island coastal tourism highway, linking all the cities, counties, towns and even villages on the island, supporting the construction of the province's holistic, or all-encompassing, tourism projects.

"We plan to develop rail transit systems in Haikou and the Greater Sanya Tourism and Economic Circle to accelerate regional integration," said the official.

Lu added that Hainan, with the ocean economy as a pillar industry, will also strive to advance the integration of ports and shipping businesses in the Qiongzhou Strait. The move will consolidate port resources and optimize functions across the province, he said.

Air routes are on the increase as well. In the past two years, Hainan opened or resumed a number of international and regional air routes. The number of the province's international air routes has risen to 52 in 2016 from nine in 2014, increasing the number of overseas tourists.