Aerial photo taken on Aug. 19, 2020 shows vessels sailing on the sea near Xin'gang port in Haikou, south China's Hainan Province. Ferry services in the Qiongzhou Strait have resumed after 12 o'clock at noon on Wednesday, as typhoon Higos made landfall in the city of Zhuhai, south China's Guangdong Province Wednesday morning. (Xinhua/Yang Guanyu)

The submarine cable system between the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) and South China's Hainan Province has made a significant step toward completion after getting permission from authorities for international communication access, according to media reports. 

Once completed, the project will strengthen the provision of telecommunication services between the Chinese mainland and the Hong Kong SAR, and improve data transmission capacity and speed for countries along the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), according to experts. 

International communication access is significant in building Hainan as a future hub of global telecommunications, especially after the establishment of the Hainan Free Trade Port, which is set to have a huge impact on the Chinese economy, and facilitate its integration into the global economy.

For instance, the project is conducive to strengthening ties with Southeast Asian countries. "Once it has become an international telecommunications hub like Singapore, Hainan will further increase its capacity for international information exchange," Fu Liang, a Beijing-based telecom industry observer told the Global Times on Monday. 

The Hainan submarine cable connecting Hong Kong can strengthen information interconnectivity and resource sharing between the Great Bay Area of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao and Hainan Province, and in doing so, jointly attract international companies to invest and develop in these regions, Fu added.

The project is undertaken by China Mobile, connecting Wenchang in Hainan and Hong Kong. The infrastructure materials are supplied by Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei. The system spans a total length of 650 kilometers, and will take around 3 months to complete. 

Earlier in June, the US Justice Department opposed Google and Facebook building cable links between the US and the Hong Kong SAR, citing concerns over global and national data security. The undersea network proposed by Google and Facebook first came out three years ago, aimed at facilitating faster internet data traffic. 

In response to the US ban aimed at restricting Hong Kong's international telecommunication ability, this project demonstrates the central government's efforts to further maintain Hong Kong's position as an international telecommunications hub and to promote the telecommunication business in Hong Kong, Fu noted. 

Global Times