Features

Inside China... Haikou: Hainan's dark horse

1 Jun 2017 by Valerian Ho

Mention Hainan Island in China’s tropical south and nearly everyone will know about Sanya on the south coast, already an international tourism destination and still growing. But of Haikou, the island province’s north coast capital, relatively little is known outside China. This, however, looks set to change.

Located just across the Qiongzhou Strait from Leizhou Peninsula on the Chinese mainland, the port city of Haikou is the focal point for business in Hainan, with a population of more than two million people, and air quality that is among the best in urban China.

COMMERCIAL SCOPE

The city’s name means “seaport”, and its strategic location on the shipping routes to Southeast Asia made it an important trading hub as far back as the Song dynasty (10th-13th centuries). Today, with the Chinese government’s drive to develop a new Maritime Silk Road to the West, Haikou is experiencing a resurgence in its value as a sea transport hub, with the shipping industry developing fast. The city’s port has nine docking berths for cargo ships and its cargo-handling capacity has reached 16 million tons per year. This is just the beginning, though, as another ten docking spaces are being built, raising the capacity to 40 million tons per year once they are
fully operational.

Manufacturing is also a major industry for Haikou – provincial government figures show the manufacturing sector contributed RMB6.83 billion (US$990 million) to the economy in January and February this year, a 4.4 per cent increase on that period in 2016. Car production is a major part of that, although it’s suffered a downturn in recent times because Haikou’s factories mainly produce sedan cars, while the production of SUVs – the current popular trend for car owners – is mainly in Zhengzhou (Henan province). Vehicle production is speeding up again this year, but the abundance of manufacturers across China, added to weak customer purchasing power due to an unstable global economy, has meant that sales performances are still relatively poor.

The pharmaceutical industry, on the other hand, has gone from strength to strength and is now a key element in Haikou’s growth. The city is now home to 41 corporations, including big names such as Haiyao and the Hailing Chemipharma Corporation, and production figures reached RMB1 billion (US$145 million) in February this year – a massive 64.3 per cent growth compared to the same month in 2016.

NEW DEVELOPMENT

The city’s first and main CBD is in the central Longhua district, but a new commercial focal point is growing fast, located in Dayingshan district a few kilometres to the southeast, on the site of the former Haikou airport. The owner of this massive plot of land is the HNA Group, a huge private conglomerate founded in 2000 that has investment in the aviation, real estate, financial services and tourism sectors, among others (Hainan Airlines is its most visible company right now).

HNA is the main driving force behind this new CBD development. The masterplan comprises an ensemble of ten towers ranging from 150 to 450 metres in height, with an overall development area of 1.5 million square metres. The design of the area as a whole was inspired by a stylised image of two “Buddha hands”, with two series of towers framing a large central plaza, surrounded by an undulating ring of commercial facilities.

The centrepiece of this new business hub will be two 430-metre-tall towers, which will become instant landmarks when they open in 2020 (total investment for the towers is RMB15.5 billion/US$2.2 billion). Construction on the first skyscraper has already started; the second on the opposite side of the road will be similar in layout and external appearance. Each will house a luxury hotel – a St Regis and JW Marriott – as well as high-end apartments, fine-dining outlets, offices, boutique stores and observation decks.

Nearby, the 47-storey Haikou International Financial Centre is also planned, featuring two high-rise office buildings 220 metres and 174 metres high, connected by a five-storey arcade for shops and restaurants. The towers’ exteriors will use a futuristic mix of opaque and transparent panels – the opaque top half providing external shading to reduce cooling loads inside, the bottom half allowing daylight in. A photovoltaic coating on the southern façades will produce sustainable power, and the angle of the panels can be altered according to weather requirements. It seems clear that HNA harbours a grand ambition to create a glittering new business district that will boost Haikou into the modern architectural world.

CONNECTIVITY

Haikou is the home base for Hainan Airlines, which, while not yet at the level of China’s “Big Three” airlines (Air China, China Eastern and China Southern), is expanding so fast that it appears, from many international observers’ points of view, to be the rising star of Chinese aviation. Owned by HNA Group, Hainan Airlines flies from the city direct to international destinations such as Hanoi, Bangkok and Danang. However, unsurprisingly its main route network is into mainland China, in particular Beijing, which is also a hub for the airline. From Beijing, Chengdu, Changsha and Xian it flies to seven destinations in North America, six in Europe and two in Australia.

Haikou may be on an island, but it’s actually well connected by rail to the rest of China through the innovative Yuehai Railway train-ferry system, whereby the whole train crosses the 33-kilometre Qiongzhou Strait to the mainland on a specially designed ferry – China’s first cross-sea rail service. There are direct links to major destinations such as Guangzhou, Chengdu, Shanghai and Beijing.

TEEING UP FOR LEISURE

Haikou is not purely a business destination – after all, its climate is virtually as tropical as Sanya’s. Given that the south is where the best beaches are, a different approach was needed, and the Mission Hills Group is at the forefront of the city’s tourism projects. One of the world’s largest golf and leisure tourism brands, Mission Hills offers hotel and resort facilities plus lifestyle and entertainment services, targeting high-end leisure travellers with activities and amenities ranging from prestigious international golf tournaments to convention and exhibition venues. It has a great reputation among professional golfers and celebrities, and Mission Hills Resort Haikou – located about 15 kilometres south of the city centre and said to be the second-largest golf resort in the world (after Mission Hills Shenzhen) – has already held top-level, star-studded golf tournaments such as the SGF67 World Ladies Championship.

The area’s volcanic rock has long hampered development, but Mission Hills saw an opportunity to use the land’s features. In addition to ten golf courses, luxury hotels and world-class restaurants, the property offers a volcanic hot-spring park providing 168 different kinds of mineral-rich pools in the spa complex.

The Mission Hills Group has not stopped there, however. Forming a partnership with Hong Kong’s Lan Kwai Fong Group – founded by influential business magnate Dr Allan Zeman – among others, they have used RMB10 billion (US$1.6 billion) of investment to build a major new “lifestyle destination” next door to the golf resort, named Centreville. This 240,000 sqm “low carbon footprint” integrated complex is split into four zones – Lan Kwai Fong Entertainment Zone, Quarry Lake, Fashion Avenue and China Grove – and features everything from residences and office space to restaurants, bars and clubs, cultural activities and conference facilities.

Centreville was officially opened in February last year, boasting an indoor/outdoor commercial shopping complex complete with a plaza dotted with ponds and bridges. Though still relatively quiet and empty at times, the opening this year of two famous international-brand hotels – The Ritz-Carlton and Renaissance – in the complex will boost visitor numbers… with more to come once a new Hard Rock Hotel opens too. Mission Hills has also signed an agreement with FC Barcelona to operate a football academy, with plans to build a training centre and an impressive 19 football pitches.

DOWN TIME DESTINATIONS

For a sense of Haikou’s history go to Qilou Old Street near Baishamen Park on the northern seafront of the city’s Haidian Island district. Dating to between 1820 and 1840, this thoroughfare still contains classical Southeast Asian “arcade” architecture, its columned sidewalks providing shade from the fierce sun and shelter from heavy tropical rain (think Singapore and Bangkok’s Chinatowns). The street has been renovated well, the two- to four-storey buildings sporting beautiful brickwork and motif tiles, as well as intricately carved window frames. It’s now become a hotspot for locals and tourists, with cafés, restaurants, souvenir stalls and bookshops.

Around 15 kilometres southwest of the city, the 108 sq km Haikou Volcanic Cluster Global Geopark is a national park encompassing the largest extinct volcano on Hainan. In fact, within the picturesque tropical landscape are 40 Quaternary volcanoes dating to around 1.5 million years ago.

A very different experience can be had at Movie Town Haikou, a complex of buildings and movie studios constructed to resemble Chongqing in 1942. The entire site spans 1,400 acres (566 hectares) and features architecture inspired by settings from film director Feng Xiaogang’s most popular movies, such as Back to 1942, Tangshan Earthquake and If  You are the One. Among the nearly 100 buildings
are a theme park, plenty of shops and restaurants, and 3D optical illusion attractions.

NEW HOTELS

The Langham, Haikou

Opened in May last year, this luxury business hotel is the 20th Langham property, offering 249 rooms and suites over 14 floors. Located in the Guomao district in the city centre, across the road from Evergreen Park, its signature Chinese restaurant T’ang Court (made famous by the group’s Michelin-starred restaurant in Hong Kong) offers authentic Cantonese and Hainanese dishes. langhamhotels.com

Hilton Haikou

This 406-room hotel opened in March last year. It is situated atop the attractively designed HNA International Plaza, close to the Haikou Exhibition and Convention Centre, and offers a jazz bar on the 55th floor – the highest bar in the city – that showcases live performances and a fine selection of rum and whisky. Around 2,000 sqm of meeting space is available, including a 693 sqm pillarless
grand ballroom. hilton.com

The Ritz-Carlton, Haikou

This luxury hotel opened in January 2017, offering 175 rooms, 16 suites and 16 villas. Located in the Centreville development next to the well-known Mission Hills golf resort to the south of the city, the interior design is reminiscent of a golf clubhouse, with guestrooms featuring fabrics and patterns inspired by vintage golf elements, and wall panels and light fixtures incorporating stitching that
evokes handmade golf shoes. ritzcarlton.com

Renaissance Haikou Hotel

Opened just last month, this is an integrated resort offering 287 rooms and suites. Also located in Centreville, the property features a Food Studio serving East-meets-West dishes, as well as the R Bar offering cocktails within a chic setting. There are 13 meeting spaces including a grand ballroom that can cater to as many as 1,300 guests. marriott.com

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