China to develop uninhabited islands for tourism
April 11th, 2011 - 12:20 pm ICT by IANSBeijing, April 11 (IANS) Six uninhabited islands in the South China Sea would now be developed as tourist sites, officials said.
The six islands are located near the southern island province of Hainan, China Daily reported Monday.
China has over 6,500 uninhabited islands, according to a census done in the 1980s.
A law on island protection was passed in March last year. It allows development of uninhabited islands.
The department of ocean and fisheries, however, said there would be no real estate projects on the islands.
Duan Deyu, a senior official of the department, said divers destroy and steal the coral and tourists spoil the vegetation of scenic spots.
“The uninhabited islands are scattered around and protecting them could be even harder,” he said.
An official in charge of developing Wuzhizhou island, one of six selected for development, warned of economic risks for investors.
A company had sunk over four million yuan into a project to develop Dazhuyu island off the eastern Zhejiang province in 2004.
The project was abandoned in 2007 after delivery for one cubic metre of sand cost more than 100 yuan.
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Tags: 1980s, beijing, census, china daily, cubic metre, economic risks, estate projects, fisheries, hainan china, investors, six islands, south china sea, southern island province, tourism, tourist sites, tourists, uninhabited islands, vegetation, yuan, zhejiang province