Under the background of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council supporting Hainan's comprehensive deepening of reform and opening up, Hainan's dilemma of "entering and exiting the island" is expected to be resolved. The Qiongzhou Strait cross-sea tunnel project, which has been studied and demonstrated by relevant parties for more than 20 years, has also ushered in a new turning point. 　　The report "Qiongzhou Strait Cross-Sea Tunnel Expected to Start Construction" recently published by China Ocean News disclosed the above information. China Ocean News is the only specialized newspaper in China's marine field under the administration of the State Oceanic Administration.
　　The report said, "The reporter recently learned from relevant departments that a new cross-sea channel, the Qiongzhou Strait Cross-Sea Tunnel, will soon be built between Guangdong and Hainan. The completion of this channel will not only drive Hainan's economic development, but also inject new vitality into the economic takeoff of western Guangdong."
　　The report said, "At present, the construction project of this cross-sea channel has officially applied to the National Development and Reform Commission for project approval. According to the plan, the tunnel connects the Leizhou Peninsula and Hainan Island, linking the Beibu Gulf in the west and the northern South China Sea in the east. It is a cross-sea channel for both highway and railway use. The Qiongzhou Strait is about 80 kilometers long from east to west, with an average width of 29.5 kilometers from north to south, a straight-line distance of 33.5 kilometers at its widest point, and about 18 kilometers at its narrowest point. The total investment in the tunnel exceeds 150 billion yuan."
　　The Qiongzhou Strait is a busy strait connecting Hainan with Guangdong and radiating to the whole country. In recent years, with the development of tourism, Haikou, a coastal city, has welcomed many tourists throughout the year, especially in winter.
　　For a long time, exchanges between Hainan Island and other provinces have mainly been through sea and air.
　　However, during this year's Spring Festival, rare heavy fog caused the Qiongzhou Strait to be continuously closed to navigation. Combined with the return peak of the Spring Festival Golden Week, tens of thousands of vehicles and tens of thousands of passengers were stranded near three ports in Haikou, attracting national attention. This emergency exposed the drawback that the navigability of the Qiongzhou Strait is constrained by weather. "The Qiongzhou Strait needs a new connection method beyond sea and air." 　　In fact, in order to escape Hainan Island's transportation dilemma and promote economic development on both sides of the strait, relevant departments have done a large amount of detailed preliminary work over the past 20 years, conducting in-depth research on the feasibility of "a new connection method beyond sea and air" and the construction of the Qiongzhou Strait cross-sea tunnel project.
　　A cross-sea channel studied for more than 20 years
　　According to Xinhua Net, from 1994 to 2002, commissioned by the Ministry of Transport, Guangdong Province invested more than 80 million yuan successively to carry out research on the Qiongzhou Strait cross-sea channel project, collecting a large amount of data on social economy, transportation, meteorology, hydrology, geomorphology, geology, earthquakes, etc., and conducting in-depth analysis and research on the necessity, construction timing, and technical standards of the cross-sea channel project.
　　After 2007, the Qiongzhou Strait cross-sea channel was frequently mentioned.
　　In April 2007, the Comprehensive Planning Department of the Ministry of Transport organized an expert review meeting on the Qiongzhou Strait cross-sea channel planning research report in Haikou. Twenty-three authoritative experts from various fields across the country unanimously agreed that building the Qiongzhou Strait cross-sea channel is highly necessary and completely feasible.
In March 2008, under the auspices of the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Railways, the Ministry of Transport, Guangdong Province, and Hainan Province signed a cooperation memorandum in Beijing, officially launching the preliminary preparations.
　　With the official signing of the cooperation memorandum, the Leading Group for the Preliminary Work of the Qiongzhou Strait Cross-Sea Project was also established. "Its basic function is to comprehensively lead and advance the preliminary research and demonstration work and coordinate the resolution of major issues. The offices of the leading group are located in the Development Planning Department of the Ministry of Railways, the Comprehensive Planning Department of the Ministry of Transport, the Guangdong Provincial Development and Reform Commission, and the Hainan Provincial Development and Reform Department."
　　Three months later, the first meeting of the Leading Group for the Preliminary Work of the Qiongzhou Strait Cross-Sea Project in Haikou approved in principle the "Work Plan for Planning and Research of the Qiongzhou Strait Cross-Sea Project" and the "Outline for Planning and Research of the Qiongzhou Strait Cross-Sea Project." The cross-sea project will comprehensively consider dual use for highway and railway, and the integration of highway and railway construction has become a consensus among all parties.
　　In October 2009, the Office of the Leading Group for the Qiongzhou Strait Cross-Sea Project officially commissioned research units to carry out feasibility studies for the Qiongzhou Strait cross-sea project, which were expected to be completed by the end of 2010.
　　In March 2010, the Qiongzhou Strait cross-sea project was determined to be a dual-use highway and railway channel, with three options for selection: the western route combined highway-railway bridge scheme, the central route combined highway-railway bridge scheme, and the combination scheme of a central route railway tunnel and a western route highway bridge. Which option to choose would be finally determined after the completion of the feasibility study.
　　According to a message from Nanhai Net on August 11, 2010, the offshore geological drilling operations for the western route and central route in the feasibility study stage of the Qiongzhou Strait cross-sea project had been basically completed.
After that, the project fell into a "silent period." 　　"Construction to start after 2018"
　　Time came to 2015, and new news emerged about the Qiongzhou Strait cross-sea tunnel.
At the end of that year, the General Office of the Guangdong Provincial People's Government released the "Guangdong Province Expressway Construction Plan for 2015-2017 and Medium- and Long-Term Plan," which mentioned that after 2018, construction would begin on the Shenhai National Expressway Qiongzhou Strait Cross-Sea Channel, with a total length of 30 kilometers and an estimated investment of 140 billion yuan.
　　At that time, when the media interviewed Wang Mengshu, a famous Chinese tunnel expert, Wang Mengshu interpreted this channel as a tunnel.
　　However, just as the Qiongzhou Strait cross-sea tunnel was rekindling hope, the relevant person in charge of the Hainan Provincial Cross-Sea Office quickly refuted the rumor through Hainan media.
　　A message released by Nanhai Net on December 10, 2015, said, "On the 9th, the news that 'the Qiongzhou Strait cross-sea channel will start construction in 2018 with an investment of 140 billion yuan' was widely circulated online. A Nanhai Net reporter verified with the Hainan Provincial Cross-Sea Office and learned that the news was untrue."
　　The report said, "According to relevant media reports, 'the Guangdong provincial government recently issued the "Guangdong Province Expressway Construction Plan for 2015-2017 and Medium- and Long-Term Plan." According to the plan, Guangdong Province will build the Shenhai Expressway Qiongzhou Strait Cross-Sea Channel in the medium and long term (construction to start after 2018), with an estimated investment of 140 billion yuan.' The reporter noted that the phrase 'construction to start after 2018' in the report was one-sidedly interpreted as 'construction to start in 2018' and mentioned in the news headline."
　　The report also mentioned, "The relevant person in charge of the Hainan Provincial Cross-Sea Office said that relevant national ministries and commissions are still in the preliminary research stage of the Qiongzhou Strait cross-sea project. The project has not yet been approved, and when construction will start is even more unknown. The content of the news is only Guangdong's unilateral medium- and long-term plan, so the news that the cross-sea channel will start construction in 2018 is inaccurate."
　　Although quickly refuted, the Qiongzhou Strait cross-sea tunnel project soon attracted attention again at the National Two Sessions in March 2016.
　　At the Fourth Session of the 12th National People's Congress in March 2016, Wang Mengshu, a deputy to the 12th National People's Congress and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, submitted a proposal to the congress calling for accelerating the construction of the Qiongzhou Strait cross-sea channel project. In addition, Wang Mengshu emphasized in the proposal that under the requirement of ensuring the smooth flow of the Qiongzhou Strait cross-sea channel, it is recommended to adopt the railway subsea tunnel scheme.
　　Experts: Whether to build a subsea tunnel should be demonstrated from multiple perspectives
　　Time came to 2018, and the Qiongzhou Strait cross-sea tunnel project became "hot" again. In particular, the large-scale tourist stranding incident during this year's Spring Festival triggered discussions on "how to solve the traffic between Haikou and the mainland in the long term."
　　In February this year, CCTV News client, in a report titled "The Qiongzhou Strait Needs a New Connection Method Beyond Sea and Air," cited the view of Xie Yanjun, a professor at the School of Tourism of Hainan University, who pointed out, "If purely from the perspective of tourism, the subsea tunnel or bridge may not need to be built. Because tourism is highly seasonal, while a bridge or tunnel needs sufficient traffic flow every day. Therefore, whether Hainan should build a subsea tunnel or bridge, and whether to accelerate construction progress, must be based on comprehensive and strategic demonstration from the perspectives of national territorial security, ecological protection, and economic development."
　　The conditions mentioned by Xie Yanjun, "from the perspectives of national territorial security, ecological protection, and economic development," may have been met two months later.
　　In April 2018, Hainan, "standing at thirty," received a precious gift.
　　On April 13, General Secretary Xi Jinping solemnly announced at the conference celebrating the 30th anniversary of the establishment of Hainan Province and the Hainan Special Economic Zone that the CPC Central Committee decided to support Hainan in building a free trade pilot zone across the entire island, support Hainan in gradually exploring and steadily advancing the construction of a free trade port with Chinese characteristics, and establish a free trade port policy and institutional system step by step and in stages. This is a major decision made by the CPC Central Committee with an eye on the overall international and domestic development situation, after in-depth research, overall consideration, and scientific planning. It is a major measure demonstrating China's determination to expand opening up and actively promote economic globalization.
　　On April 14, the "Guiding Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Supporting Hainan's Comprehensive Deepening of Reform and Opening Up" was officially released.
　　Against the background of comprehensively deepening reform and opening up, Hainan's dilemma of "entering and exiting the island" is also expected to be resolved. On July 25 this year, the implementation plan of the Ministry of Transport on implementing the "Guiding Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Supporting Hainan's Comprehensive Deepening of Reform and Opening Up" published on the ministry's official website stated, "Study the Qiongzhou Strait channel, build a comprehensive transportation corridor consisting of multiple transportation modes such as high-speed railway, expressway, and waterway passenger-roll transport, and integrate it into the national comprehensive transportation corridor."