South China's Hainan Province has been stepping up its efforts in expanding the scale and quality of cultural and tourism industry, continuously driving tourism consumption.
The province's total revenue of the tourism sector grew from 95.016 billion yuan (about 13.302 billion U.S. dollars) in 2018 to 204.014 billion yuan in 2024, doubling in scale. Meanwhile, tourism's overall contribution to GDP has risen significantly, climbing from 27.3 percent in 2018 to 33.4 percent in 2024.
"Hainan has been providing more abundant premium tourism products, with duty-free shopping, aerospace study tours, wellness vacations, and cultural performances flourishing as distinctive sectors, meeting tourists' diverse and quality consumption needs," said Chen Tiejun, director of Hainan Provincial Department of Tourism and Culture, Radio, Television and Sports.
Under the policy of Free Trade Port, Hainan's inbound tourism has seen drastic changes.
"With continued release of policy dividends, Hainan's global connectivity is significantly enhanced, along with optimized market structure, and steadily rising consumption quality," said Chen.
As of November 2025, the province had opened a total of 82 overseas passenger routes, linking key cities in Russian-speaking regions, main customer source cities in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan regions. Five long-haul routes to Europe and America were launched as well.
"In the years to come, Hainan will further expand long-haul international routes to Europe, the United States, and the Middle East, and build a global tourism promotion system. It will also develop joint 'multi-destination' travel routes with provinces and cities in Chinese mainland as well as Hong Kong and Macao. Leveraging duty-free policies, Hainan will create international products such as high-end shopping, cruise tourism, and health care and wellness to attract more inbound tourists to visit and vacation here," Chen said.
Hainan tourism consumption gains leapfrog growth
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday urged a "truly durable" ceasefire with unimpeded humanitarian aid access for Gaza, while warning that the overall humanitarian situation in the war-torn enclave remains fragile despite some improvements.
Guterres said at a press encounter that clean water is reaching more communities, some health facilities have reopened, and in the wake of the winter storms, the international community acted immediately to provide support.
However, Guterres warned that about 1.6 million people in the Gaza Strip, or more than 75 percent of the population, would face extreme levels of acute food insecurity and critical malnutrition risks.
Since October, the UN has done everything possible to keep lifelines open, but needs are growing faster than aid can get in, he said.
"We need a truly durable ceasefire, and we need more crossings, the lifting of restrictions on critical items, the removal of red tape, safe routes inside Gaza, sustained funding, and unimpeded access, including for NGOs," said Guterres.
Meanwhile, Guterres warned that the situation in the West Bank is also rapidly deteriorating, with Palestinians facing multiple threats including escalating violence by settlers, land confiscation, forced demolition of homes, and increasingly stringent restrictions on movement. In the north, tens of thousands of people have already been displaced due to Israeli military operations.
Guterres stressed that the international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law, must be upheld across the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.
Guterres also said the International Court of Justice's Advisory Opinion of Oct. 22, 2025 clearly stated that Israel is under the obligation to allow and facilitate humanitarian aid, to cooperate with the United Nations in carrying out its mandates, and to respect the privileges and immunities of the United Nations and its personnel, including in times of armed conflict.
UN chief urges "truly durable" ceasefire with unimpeded humanitarian access for Gaza
UN chief urges "truly durable" ceasefire with unimpeded humanitarian access for Gaza
