10 reasons Hainan is top choice for expats

Strong international ties

The island has been well known for hosting grand events, including the Boao Forum, a BRICS Summit, the first Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Leader's Meeting, and a Roundtable Conference on China-Africa Cooperation. Hainan has established strong relationships with 56 cities and provinces from the five continents and offers a visa-free policy to 59 countries.

Healthcare and longevity

Bestowed with high quality air and water, the tropical island province was declared a World Longevity Island by the International Expert Committee on Population Aging and Longevity in 2014.

The proportion of centenarians, 17.13 out of every 100,000 people in Hainan, is far higher than China's national standard, earning it the designation of a longevity city that is given for places with seven centenarians for every 100,000 people.

Focusing on four key areas, medical treatment, medical cosmetology, rehabilitation and health promotion, Hainan will introduce internationally renowned institutions, insurance providers, and intermediary service agencies to build a high-end foundation for the international medical tourism market.

Diverse entertainment

The province focuses on the development of marine tourism, medical tourism, shopping tourism, convention and exhibition tourism, sports tourism, rural tourism, forest tourism, RV camping tourism, and featured urban tourism.

Among its popular tourist destinations are Wuzhizhou Island, Boundary Island, Nanshan Mountain, Dongtian Park, and Yanoda Rainforest.

Hainan's off-shore duty-free program is another big draw. Domestic and overseas tourists can make duty-free purchases if they spend no more than 30,000 yuan ($4,315) per person within one year, up from the current limit of 16,000 yuan, according to the Ministry of Finance. There are also no restrictions on purchase frequency.

More than 76 million domestic and overseas tourists visited the southern China's island province of Hainan in 2018, up 11.8 percent year-on-year.