PEARL ON THE SEA: Yongxing Island is the seat of the government of Sansha City, Hainan Province (ZHA CHUNMING)

Basic construction

Upgrading infrastructure facilities was the top priority during Sansha's first year.

Located on 2.13-square-km Yongxing Island, the largest in the Xisha Islands, the Sansha Government and local residents mainly rely on ships for fresh water and other necessities.

The ferry service between Hainan's eponymous main island and Yongxing started in 1978 when the Qiongzhou 1 began to make irregular supply voyages for troops and police officers stationed in Yongxing. The ferry schedule has become busier over the years with the increase of Yongxing's population and infrastructure needs.

The Qiongzhou 3 now makes four round trips between Qinglan Port in Hainan Island and Yongxing every month if weather permits. Traveling more than 180 nautical miles during a 15-hour trip, besides people, the ship transports fresh water, rice, vegetables and medicine to Yongxing.

The ship can carry up to 750 tons of freight and 200 passengers, a big improvement over the 400 tons of freight and 100 passengers carried by the Qiongzhou 2, replaced in 2007. More recently, construction and landscaping materials have become a larger part of its cargo.

"The infrastructure workload in Sansha is enormous as the city is so young. However, we have prioritized projects concerning people's livelihood, environmental facilities and ecological restoration projects," said Xiao Jie, Mayor of Sansha.

Investment in Sansha's first 28 infrastructure projects totaled nearly 24 billion yuan ($3.91 billion), the Sansha Government reported last September. It invested nearly 340 million yuan ($55 million) in its first phase of port construction to create nine berths for unloading fish, ice and fuel.

On July 20, the first phase of Sansha's sewage treatment plant and a garbage collection and transfer system completed construction. The sewage treatment plant cost more than 20 million yuan ($3.26 million). It will supply Yongxing with 1,800 cubic meters of water safe enough for showers and laundry. Two temporary sewage treatment facilities, with a daily capacity of 60 and 30 cubic meters, have also been put into use on Yongxing.

The Central Government and the Hainan Provincial Government have also pooled nearly 80 million yuan ($13 million) for a badly needed seawater desalination plant on Yongxing, which will process 1,000 cubic meters of seawater a day to supply fresh water to nearby islets, reefs and ships.

A 400-ton-capacity ship is under construction in Zhanjiang City, Guangdong Province, which will transport food from Yongxing to affiliated islets and return with waste. The ship might even provide ferry services to fishermen.

Last December, the Sansha Government also launched a tree-planting program on four islets and reefs to curb soil erosion. A total of 500 trees were planted on Yagong Islet in Xisha Islands in March.