HAIKOU: A total of 12 overseas enterprises, including tourism giant TUI Group from Germany, signed cooperation agreements on major projects within the free trade port in south China's Hainan Province on Thursday.
A total of 59 major projects, including 12 foreign-funded and 47 domestic ones, were agreed, covering tourism, the modern service industry and high-tech industries, with an estimated total investment of 14.2 billion yuan (about 2 billion U.S. dollars).
A representative of TUI Group said the signing marks the tourism magnate's formal entry into the Hainan free trade port, adding that it will found an Asian-Pacific regional headquarters and joint venture here to further deepen its business relations with China and the Asian-Pacific region.
The signing ceremony also unveiled 20 investment-promotion projects that are open to global investors, in areas such as new-energy vehicles, tourism, offshore trade and duty-free retail.
On June 1, the country released a master plan for constructing a free trade port on Hainan, a resort island with tourism as a mainstay industry, arousing interest both abroad and at home.
