Island province expands coconut business (2)

A farmer collects freshly picked coconuts in Qionghai, Hainan province. (MENG ZHONGDE/FOR CHINA DAILY)

Hainan will also encourage its enterprises to seek business agreements overseas to increase the supply of raw materials from coconuts, the plan said. It said China has a complete coconut processing industry, particularly in production of coconut juice, activated carbon, detergents, handicrafts and other products with highly standardized quality.

Also planned is encouragement of technical innovation in the coconut industry, further expansion of the industrial chain and development of more value-added products.

Hainan will explore coconut culture and develop tourism with coconut themes. The plan calls for a number of major projects, including an international coconut trading center, a coconut culture museum, coconut-themed tourist attractions and rural tourism demonstration sites.

By 2025, the total output value of the coconut-related industry in Hainan is projected to reach 23 billion yuan ($3.61 billion).