China's island province to open ocean park next year

HAIKOU - An ocean theme park designed as an iconic tourism project on China's island province of Hainan is slated to open next year, local authorities said Saturday.

Covering 133 hectares in a pilot tourism zone in Lingshui County, the ocean park is under investment from Hong Kong-listed R&F Properties based in Guangzhou, a county publicity official said.

More than 700 workers are working on the construction, which will increase to 1,600 after the Chinese New Year, the official said.

The park, similar in design to the SeaWorld theme park in Orlando, the United States, will include an aquarium with 135,000 tonnes of water, a roller coaster over 1 km long, and a 123 meter tower for sightseeing.

Around 6 million tourists are expected to visit the park annually.

The developer is planning to increase its investment from a planned 6.5 billion yuan to 15 billion yuan (2.17 billion U.S. dollars), to add more entertainment, the official said.

Currently 4 billion yuan has been spent, he added.