Approved by the State Council, YEDZ was established in March 1992. A total of 30 square km of land was leased to Kumagai Gumi (Hong Kong) Ltd. (renamed Hong Kong Construction(Holdings) Ltd. in early 1999) for development for a period of 70 years. It was the first zone constructed by a foreign company for large-scale development. In the meantime, an additional 70 square km of land outside the zone was planned for future development. With the favorable policies granted by the central and provincial governments and the rich reserves of petroleum, natural gas, minerals and other natural resources in Hainan, Yangpu will become a new modern industrial harbor city in China.

　　Since 1993, a total of RMB￥ 6.8 billion has been invested in infrastructures, including those from the State, the developer and outside investors. Among the total, HK$2.6 billion was invested in land leveling and the other facility constructions, HK$2.1 billion was invested in Yangpu Power Station. Up to date, the developer has completed land-leveling of 18 square km, 45 km of road, 11.4km of isolation fence, a power station with a capacity of 358MW,a fuel-oil jetty and the power transmission network, and the final capacity will reach 440MW. The first stage of a telecommunications project has also been completed and opened to service. The first stage of resident resettlement has been completed and a total of 1066 apartments of various types have been built up. Yangpu Harbor，with three 35,000-ton berths, two 20,000-ton berths and one 3,000-ton berth, has an annual handling capacity of 2.5 million tons. This in turn will enhance Yangpu Harbor's capability for large scale construction.

　　YEDZ has a complete set of administrative agencies, including the administration bureau, customs, port inspection & quarantine and financial management institution. Key domestic financial institutions and some world famous banks have also set up their branches in Yangpu. Community services facilities such as school, hospital, post&telecommunication office, bus station and shopping center are also improving step by step.

　　The Central government and Hainan Province has been paying much attention to Yangpu development. Chinese leaders Mr. Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, Li Peng and Zhu Rongji gave their explicit instructions to Yangpu development. Jiang Zemin, Li Peng and Zhu Rongji have ever visited Yangpu.