During the course of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), the regional GDP of Chengmai county, Hainan province, surged by 61 percent to 55.992 billion yuan ($8.12 billion), up from 34.836 billion yuan at the start of the period.

That performance underscored Chengmai's dynamic growth, with its total economic volume consistently ranking first among Hainan province's county-level administrative regions. In fact, in three consecutive years it's been selected as one of China's top 100 counties for comprehensive strength.

When Chengmai's county chief Xu Tao delivered the government work report at the county's Two Sessions on Feb 4, he said that in 2026 the region would continue to expand its market presence in five key overseas sectors.

Last year, Chengmai established a full-chain service system for overseas expansion in electronic games, cross-border e-commerce, manufacturing, new energy vehicles and in the digital culture industry — achieving significant results.

In all, some 55 companies joined the Hainan Game Export Public Service Platform in 2025, enjoying its one-stop services to enter international markets. Specifically, the PlayOL platform launched 153 games, reaching over 10 million overseas users.

On the cross-border e-commerce front, the Global Cross-border E-commerce Export Base and the Silk Road Cross-Border Livestreaming Center were opened, attracting 101 enterprises. In addition, the first work visa for a foreign livestreaming host in a Hainan county-level region was issued. Over 100 cross-border livestreaming sessions were completed after the issuance.

An aerial view of the old town area of Chengmai, South China's Hainan province. [Photo/VCG]

With 2026 marking the start of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) — and the first year of island-wide special customs operations at Hainan Free Trade Port — Xu Tao emphasized that Chengmai would extend its development in these five overseas sectors.

Electronic games
Moving forwards, Chengmai plans to upgrade its Game Export Public Service Platform and support product research and development to target markets in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. The goal is to have more than 150 service business enterprises and 400 exported games up and running, generating revenue of 4.5 billion yuan. The county also aims to bring the total of the PlayOL platform’s overseas user registrations to over 20 million users.

Cross-border E-commerce
The county plans to build a Cross-border E-commerce Industrial Park and a Livestreaming Product Selection Center. The goal is to attract 50 cross-border e-commerce companies, cultivate at least one enterprise with an annual turnover exceeding 100 million yuan and develop 10 local cross-border livestreaming teams.

Manufacturing
Chengmai plans to help a dozen local manufacturers to launch overseas operations while attracting 15 new manufacturers engaging in export businesses. The county will introduce or cultivate at least one third-party service agency to provide integrated solutions — ranging from warehousing and order responses to cross-border deliveries.

New energy vehicles
The county will develop a comprehensive export service base and a digital service platform for smart electric vehicles. What’s more, efforts will be made to attract at least one complete vehicle manufacturing project.

Digital culture industry
Chengmai will build support infrastructure for the digital creative culture sector and train over 2,000 people in digital content production. The plan includes introducing and assisting five enterprises engaging in digital culture exports and the content processing trade — aiming to generate total annual revenue of over 1 billion yuan.