South China's Hainan Province aims to become China's golf capital and one of the world's major tourist destinations for golf players and enthusiasts, officials said Thursday at a seminar of 2010 Boao International Tourism Forum.

"China encourages well-planned environment-friendly development of golf tourism, especially in Hainan, the country's only tropical island province," said Du Jiang, deputy head of the National Tourism Administration.

China's golf tourism industry is still in the beginning stage and has huge potential, Du added, addressing an audience of more than 500 entrepreneurs and experts on golf tourism in a conference hall of Mission Hills Hainan, the largest collection of golf courses in the world.

Du's words came after the State Council approved a plan to build Hainan into an "international tourism island," supporting the island to develop its golf tourism, on Jan. 4.