Hainan plans to make itself the destination for holidaymakers from Russia looking for a tropical paradise.

Wei Liucheng, governor of China's southernmost island province, said his provincial government wants to work with Russian authorities to promote the idea this year.

It is currently the "Year of Russia" in China, with a series of events planned to further boost cooperation in every area and make new breakthroughs in key ones.

The holiday marketing drive has been put forward by a number of investors, but the idea has not been formally discussed yet by authorities in the two countries.

Wei said that the wife of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will pay a three-day visit to China from March 21, and President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan had twice visited the area over the years.

Both of them spoke highly of their travel experiences in Hainan, Wei said.

Last year, nearly 500,000 overseas tourists went to Hainan, up some 40 percent on 2004, according to provincial statistics. The number of Russian tourists doubled over the same period.

"Hainan island is comparable to any other well-know tropics resorts in the world," said Wei, talking to reporters on the sidelines of the ongoing session of the 10th National People's Congress, hoping that it could become China's answer to Phuket in Thailand.

"There are no reports of bird flu thanks to its natural geographical protective shield that prevents the migration of birds, there are no sharks, it's a very safe area and it has beautiful sun and sandy beaches," Wei said.

But the average tourist spends just a day-and-a-half in Hainan, compared to seven to 10 days for Phuket, Wei said.

Wei said the construction of a leisure holiday village and tourism-related service industry was the focus of the development of Hainan's tourism industry.

"Hainan is a very beautiful island, but we are not saying the more people who visit the better," said Wei. "If we were to get 40 to 50 million visitors a year, it would have a terrible effect on the environment.

"We won't restrict the number of visitors at the moment, but we are considering it," he added, saying tourists may generate too much rubbish and that his island puts environmental protection high on the agenda.

China launched direct chartered flights between the city of Sanya and Moscow late last December, which has greatly facilitated the possibility of establishing a holiday village for Russian people in Hainan island.

Starting from December 25, the flights are undertaken every 10 days as tourists are expected to stay in Sanya for the period to enjoy its tropical scenery and then take another chartered flight back to Russia.

(China Daily March 13, 2006)