Hainan to strengthen its foreign language services

The 2026 Hainan International Language Service Industry and Talent Development Forum takes place on Sept 17 in Sanya, Hainan province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The 2026 Hainan International Language Service Industry and Talent Development Forum convened Sept 17 in Sanya, Hainan province, drawing about 150 participants, including guests from Russia, Uzbekistan, France and Japan.

The event, themed "Language Services Empowering Cultural Tourism Consumption and International Language Environment Development", comes following Hainan's launch of island-wide special customs operations, a shift expected to further boost inbound tourism.

Nie Jing, deputy general manager of Hainan Tourism Investment Group, said visa-free policies have fueled rising visitor numbers, elevating language services from a supporting role to core "soft infrastructure" for the Hainan Free Trade Port's business environment.

The 2026 Hainan International Language Service Industry and Talent Development Forum takes place on Sept 17 in Sanya, Hainan province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Nie said the group will build a language service standards system, talent training bases and a joint language technology laboratory.

The forum launched a government-industry-enterprise-university program to train guides in less commonly taught languages, alongside school-enterprise cooperation agreements. Organizers said the model aims to close a mismatch in which graduates often know a foreign language but lack industry skills, or vice versa.

Speakers highlighted practical challenges. Lu Ping, chairman of Hainan Free Trade Zone Dehang Group, said cross-language cultural communication poses real obstacles in cross-border livestreaming and exhibition trading, calling for more localized, intelligent solutions.

The 2026 Hainan International Language Service Industry and Talent Development Forum takes place on Sept 17 in Sanya, Hainan province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Zhou Lijing, director of inbound and product business unit at Hainan Saiaofei International Travel Agency Co, said demand is growing for Czech, Central Asian, Middle Eastern and Spanish services beyond traditional Russian, leaving a shortage of qualified guides. She urged deeper industry-education integration and "language plus service, operations and marketing" talent development.

Luan Shuo, general manager of the enterprise services business unit of Beijing LLVision Technology Co, presented AR translation glasses supporting more than 100 languages, already used at major scenic spots and international conferences. He said the company hopes to deploy the technology in Hainan.

The 2026 Hainan International Language Service Industry and Talent Development Forum takes place on Sept 17 in Sanya, Hainan province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Shan Yuanhang of Hainan Meta-Tourism Technology also said that AI should handle rapid responses while humans manage emotional communication and emergencies.

Zhu Manman, director of the conference and exhibition department of Lan-bridge Group, shared multilingual support experience from the World Games 2025 Chengdu and China-ASEAN Marathon.

The 2026 Hainan International Language Service Industry and Talent Development Forum takes place on Sept 17 in Sanya, Hainan province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Two roundtable sessions addressed foreign residents' daily convenience in Sanya and industry-education pathways for language talent.

Foreign practitioners shared firsthand views. Avrorov Aleksei, marketing and promotion manager at Hainan Saiaofei International Travel Agency Co, said four years in Hainan have shown steady improvements, with many Sanya scenic area staff members now speaking basic Russian and English.

Hirayama Yuichi, general manager of JC General (Hainan) Consulting Ltd, said daily-life foreign language services largely meet demand, but business-oriented professionals remain scarce. He urged local colleges to add business conversation courses.

The 2026 Hainan International Language Service Industry and Talent Development Forum takes place on Sept 17 in Sanya, Hainan province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Zhang Hao, associate professor at Hainan Normal University's tourism college, said accurate translation alone is just the starting point. Hainan should instead design accessible public services around the entire user journey of international visitors.

Gao Rongjun, deputy general manager of Hainan Nanhai Event Management Co, said visa-free policies and expanded international routes are bringing growing numbers of international visitors. The forum will maintain regular government-industry-enterprise-university coordination to advance talent cultivation and technology adoption.