China has already published a regulation on the protection and exploitation of uninhabited islands, which took effect July 1.

Guangdong Province will now draw up a detailed rule, according to the nation's new regulation on uninhabited islands.

Guangdong has about 1,434 islands, among which more than 90 percent are uninhabited. The province has 604 islands with areas larger than 500 square meters.

Individual investors can name the island they buy next year, the Guangzhou-based Information Times said Tuesday. But they will only have use rights for 50 years.

The prices can range from thousands to millions of yuan (8.23 yuan=1 US$), the paper said.

Many Guangdong people had shown keen interest in buying an island to have the taste of a modern Robinson Crusoe, the paper said.

Buyers will have to make available to marine management authorities detailed plans for the protection and exploitation of the islands. They can develop the islands into tourist destinations or use them as warehouses.

Insiders said exploiting uninhabited islands could be a new booming business with high profits.

Guangdong began to develop islands on a trial basis in 1997. In 1998, the provincial government set up a development center on the Wanshan Islands, which were used as tourism and fishing bases, as well as warehouses. The area's domestic product reached 530 million yuan (US$64 million) in 2001.

However, the business has its advantages and disadvantages.

The advantages are rich marine resources and beautiful natural environment, while the disadvantages lie mainly in the shortage of freshwater and a lack of transport.

(Shenzhen Daily July 16, 2003)