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Iris Ouyang

Hainan Province, known as China’s Hawaii, is establishing a 5 billion yuan (US$717 million) entertainment venue dedicated to electric cars, which aims to host global sports events such as the Formula E World Championship while also helping carmakers showcase their products and their role in China’s decarbonisation efforts.
The project, to be located in Sanya city, is likely to begin some operations as soon 2025, according to Lianxin International, the Shenzhen-based conglomerate running the project.
Hong Kong investors are providing 40 per cent of the capital, as China’s southernmost province strengthens collaborations with the city.
Lianxin has presented all of Formula E’s races in China, including the first event in Beijing in 2014, four events in Hong Kong, and the most recent race, in Sanya in March 2019.

The company is in discussions to introduce other events, such as the E1 World Electric Powerboat Series and races of the International Motorcycling Federation, to the island, its chairman Yin Xiaoming said in an interview.
“Hainan will definitely become an influential place for the Greater China region, even globally, in hosting international competitions and sports events,” he said. “It has unique strengths such as rich tourism resources and convenience brought by its free-trade port status, such as the exemption of visas or tariffs.”
The planned new-energy vehicle entertainment compound will include three segments: a theme park, a hotel, and a business-related segment mainly serving carmakers.


The theme park will offer visitors virtual-reality and real-life experiences such as electric go-karts and racing with professional drivers. The business segment will provide facilities for carmakers to host new-vehicle releases and exhibitions, and to accommodate clients for test drives.
Hainan, home of China’s largest free-trade port, aims to end the sale of vehicles powered by internal-combustion engines by 2030, in line with Beijing’s climate goals of peaking carbon emission by 2030 and reaching net-zero emission by 2060.
The project taps into China’s status as the largest car market in the world, as well as the Chinese government’s prioritisation of consumption next year to revive a slowing economy. Meanwhile, the sporting-events market in China is expected to reach 39.8 billion yuan next year, surging by close to 58 per cent from around 25.2 billion yuan in 2019 before the outbreak of Covid-19, according to consultancy firm iResearch.
Hainan officials pursue investment in visits to Germany, Hong Kong, Japan
China announced its plans to develop tropical Hainan into a free-trade port in 2018, with a major goal of making it an international tourism destination. In addition to fiscal subsidies and favourable tax policies, the government also raised the duty-free purchase quota for each tourist up to 100,000 yuan per year, with all goods set to be duty free by 2025.
“Formula E can serve as an entry point of introducing traffic [to the project and Hainan] and help electric vehicle brands’ marketing,” said Ji Gang, partner at consultancy Roland Berger in Shanghai.
However, the pandemic has put a halt to most outdoor sports events for three years, and introducing international sports and racing events will require better international marketing and promotion, Ji stressed.
‘China’s Hawaii’ rolls out discounts, goodies to lure winter tourists
Lianxin is pursuing the rights to hold the next Formula E competition in China as early as 2024, as it usually takes a year for applications and arrangements, Yin said. “We may have two or three sites having the race at the same time in China,” he added.
The company expects construction of the new-energy compound to finish by the end of 2025, with its commercial launch likely in 2026. Some segments, such as test drives and exhibitions by car brands, could start as soon as 2025, Yin said.


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Lianxin International, which has hosted Formula E races in China since 2014, will build an EV-themed entertainment compound in Sanya city
The venue will include a theme park, space for racing events and exhibition facilities for carmakers to showcase their vehicles


Lianxin International, the host of past Formula E races in China, says an EV-themed compound in Hainan province’s Sanya will include a theme park and showcase space for carmakers.
