BOAO, Hainan - Microsoft is expected to establish an innovation center in South China's Hainan province, the first of its kind on the Chinese mainland, according to an agreement signed between Microsoft and the Hainan provincial government on Sunday.

Based on Microsoft's leading technology platform, the Microsoft Innovation Center will attract software enterprises in the fields of tourism and agriculture to Hainan, said Li Guoliang, deputy governor of Hainan.

Li said the government hopes to nurture an ecology-related industrial software chain worth 5 billion yuan ($798 million).

Microsoft will also build a "Microsoft IT Academy" in Hainan to boost the training of IT experts.

Microsoft will carry out strategic cooperation with Hainan regarding technological development, software training and intellectual property rights protection, according to a memorandum of understanding inked by the Hainan provincial government and Microsoft (China) Co Ltd on the sidelines of the ongoing Boao Forum for Asia.

Microsoft Group Vice President Orlando Ayala said global tourism hot spots are moving to the Asia-Pacific region, adding that the company's cooperation with Hainan will prop up the province's efforts to become a major international tourist destination.

Microsoft Innovation Centers are state-of-the-art facilities designed to foster collaboration on innovative research, technology and software solutions, involving a combination of government, academic and industry participants.

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