Opened in December 2010, the railway links the capital Haikou at the northern end of the province, and goes alongside the eastern coastline to reach the resort city of Sanya in the southernmost region of the island.

[2][3][4] The idea for the railway was first proposed in February 1958 by then Vice-Premier and Director of the National Planning Commission, Li Fuchun, during an inspection tour of Hainan.

In the summer of 1980, the State Council made the decision to speed up development and construction on Hainan Island.

[7] The official opening and start of operations of the eastern ring railway took place on December 30, 2010 with a trial run.

[5] At the opening ceremony, Luo Baoming, governor of Hainan, stated that the railway will promote urbanization and greatly improve the island's transportation capacity.

[8] From March 8, 2011, CRH380A trains served the route, although track limitations restrict their maximum speed to 250 km/h (160 mph).

Services are now provided by CRH1A type Harmony ("Hexie Hao" simplified Chinese: 和谐号; traditional Chinese: 和諧號; pinyin: Héxié Hào) EMU trains, with a total length of 213.5 metres (700 feet) and a total weight of 420.4 long tons (427.1 tonnes), and a top speed of approximately 250 km/h (160 mph).

[17] Initially, there were ten trains per day in each direction on the Hainan eastern ring high-speed railway.