The news was announced at a briefing on major projects organized by Haikou city recently.

Industry insiders held that the move was calculated by the provincial capital to turn the pharmaceutical-making industry into an economic powerhouse via tapping local resources and applying biological technologies, gene engineering and IT.

Haikou, which sits on the northern tip of the island province teaming with tropical, subtropical and marine resources, boasts broad prospects for stepping up its pharmaceuticals industry.

However, the present pharmaceutical sector in the province, which is plagued by such problems as limited production scale, redundant construction and low scientific contents, cannot play the role of a pillar industry.

Hainan, which became a province of its own right in April 1988,is one of the major bases for production of agricultural products in China, especially off-season farm produce. Seawater here is considered the purest and cleanest in the country.

(Xinhua News Agency May 27, 2003)