After years of waiting for China to lift heavy restrictions on airspace, wealthy travellers and aircraft manufacturers have reason to celebrate — the country’s skies are opening up to private flights.

The makers of helicopters and small business jets are predicting a major bump in sales — France’s Dassault Falcon just moved its Asia office from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, which it called the new “centre of gravity” for the market.

The private air travel industry “will be one of the fastest-growing sectors in the next 10 years”, Frank Lee, chairman of China Private Aviation Company, a consultancy offering aircraft acquisition and charter services, told AFP.

They already drive flashy cars, wear expensive watches and eat at top-end restaurants. Now rich Chinese businessmen have found a new way to flaunt their wealth – luxury boats.

“They want to go out on the ocean and have fun — and take VIP clients to fish and negotiate deals,” said Zheng Weihang, secretary general of the China Cruise and Yacht Industry Association.

With the second-largest number of dollar billionaires in the world after the United States, according to Forbes magazine, China is drawing eager foreign marina developers and boatmakers to its shores to tap the fast-growing market.

China currently has around 1,000 luxury powerboats and yachts moored around the country, and the number is expected to balloon to more than 10,000 over the next five years, Zheng told AFP.

The Hainan Rendez Vous, Asia’s first and only exhibition exclusively dedicated to business jets, large yachts and luxury lifestyle will return from April 1st to April 4th 2011 at the Visun Marina in Sanya (Hainan Island, China).

By most measures, the self-styled “Chinese Riviera” on Hainan Island has a long way to go before catching up to Cannes, St. Tropez or Nice.

But the organizers of Hainan Rendez-Vous at the island’s Sanya resort did their part to boost the area’s image this past weekend, hosting an extravaganza of private jets, vintage and top-end autos, luxury properties and giant yachts.

The first edition of the Hainan Rendez-Vous attracted last week end over 5,600 visitors during the three-day event which featured more than 150 exhibitors.

Picture a world where the champagne never stops flowing, the music never stops playing, the jewels never come off and the parties never end…

Now throw in haute cuisine aboard mega yachts, flights aboard gilded private jets, exclusive luxury property launches and private previews of the latest couture collections.

Stir up the action with a star-studded guest list and you’re in for three days of absolute indulgence at Hainan Rendez-vous.

From April 2 to 4, society’s luminaries, A-list celebrities, seasoned jetsetters and connoisseurs will descend onto the sparkling waters of Hainan Island for a unique extravaganza that celebrates luxury living.

The Chinese Government has started to roll out plans to turn the southern island of Hainan into what is being called a “global destination” and the private sector has been quick to rally to the cause.

New resorts, visa-free entry to tourists from more countries, duty-free shopping for everyone and the possibility of more sports-betting “lotteries” to increase revenue flow have been touted by the government as ways to lure the world to a destination commonly referred to as the “Hawaii of China.”