China’s State Oceanic Administration (SOA) on Tuesday released a list of uninhabited islands that will be open for development. Chinese citizens and foreigners can apply for the development and resource rights for a maximum 50-year period.

 

On the list are 176 islands from eight Chinese provinces, including Sanping Island and Niudao Island in the Shandong province city of Qingdao.

 

Ninety percent of the selected islands are smaller than 0.1 square kilometers in size, and thus unsuitable for real estate development, said Lv Caixia, director of the Island Management Office of the SOA.

 

“The development of these islands is expected to follow the Maldives Island pattern, focusing on tourism and other tertiary industries. People can share the public resources of these islands,” she said.

 

Traditionally, the world’s uninhabited islands later become developed for tourism, transportation, fishery, forestry, animal husbandry and renewable energy projects.

 

Qingdao’s Sanping Island is the largest island on the SOA list, covering an area of 153,500 square meters. Wang Shulian, vice director of the Qingdao Ocean and Fishery Bureau, said development of Niudao Island and Sanping Island likely will focus on environmental projects such as tidal and solar power generation, and seawater desalination.