A move to make the island province of Hainan even more amenable to tourism is being made at the same time as the Chinese government is encouraging the growth of tilapia aquaculture in Myanmar.
Long a center of the tilapia cultivation, in recent years, Hainan has become a holiday destination, undergoing a massive buildout of real estate that has crowded out aquaculture ponds. It appears as if China is seeking to further extend its appeal as a tourism mecca with the announcement that it will make the island a pilot zone for free trade experiments and a legalization of gambling on horse racing.
At the same time, a group of Chinese aquaculture experts recently conducted a four-day training seminar on tilapia seed and “grow-out culture” at the Myanmar Fisheries Ministry. The delegation was led by Dong Zai Jie, deputy director of the freshwater center at the Chinese Academy of Fisheries.
