What does the future hold for China's free trade port?

The international medical tourism pilot zone is designed to be internationally advanced in medical technology, equipment and medicine by 2025.

The plan also calls for making breakthroughs in building an advanced clinical center - a base for R&D and the application of cutting-edge medical technologies.

By 2030, the zone is slated to develop into a world-class destination for international medical tourism and innovation platform for medical science and technology.

However, the prices are still unaffordable for the general public, and hospitals, such as Yiling Hospital Management Group told CGTN that they are trying to connect their medical services to the country's government health and medical insurance programs, in the hope of attracting more customers.

Is Hainan likely to overtake Shenzhen as a tech hub?

Hainan aims to build itself into a modern tech hub, as part of the overall plan of transforming the island into a free trade port.

Located in the southern tip of Hainan, a sci-tech park, named Sanya Yazhou Bay Science and Technology City, is under construction.

Jiang Zhimin, who moved here from south China's Guangdong Province nearly a year ago, is designated to handpick China's tech companies for the park. Jiang said as for small tech firms, he is seeking those with technology reserves and promising future in the market.

"As for big companies, they should be champions in their own fields, which can bring in a whole production chain for us when they join. Another type is (tech) incubators," added Jiang.

A bird's-eye-view of Sanya Yazhou Bay Science and Technology City. /CGTN

Among some Chinese companies, which have set up branches in the tech park, is iFlytek, which is headquartered in central China's Anhui Province.

"Here, we are more focused on mainstream core technologies, like iFlytek's AI and translation. To be honest, there is a big gap between Hainan and Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. However, we came here not because Hainan is already rather developed, but because we can build a better Hainan under the new free trade policies here," said Zhang Shubin, general manager of iFlytek in Hainan.

As a fledgling tech hub, Hainan is confronted with some tough competition, most notably Shenzhen, a major electronics manufacturing base which hosts some of China's major tech giants, including Huawei, Tencent, DJI and ZTE.

Hainan, in order to bring in talent, earlier opened over 30,000 jobs, including 470 earmarked for foreign nationals, according to Sansha Satellite TV. These openings cover services, tourism and high-tech industries. The 470 positions for "international talent" mainly include language teaching, hospitality and aviation.