Well, he doesn't really sell them, but almost: he rents them out for 50 years to anyone who wants to exploit them for tourist accommodation facilities. In the province of Zhejiang (in southern China, between Macao and the border with Vietnam) there are about 3000 islets, from 500 to 1000 square meters, almost all uninhabited.
But there are also bigger ones, and one of these, Da-yangyu (258 square meters) was auctioned for the first time in China. The winning offer was that of Ms. Yang Weihua, General Manager of the Ningbo Gaobao real estate company: for 20 million yuan (2.3 million euros) Ningbo Gaobao was awarded the right to exploit an island rich in natural and landscape resources . She intends to invest 500 million yuan to build a resort and thus make an uninhabited island a source of wealth for a country where tourism will become increasingly important as the ranks of the middle class swell.
For now there are 176 islands made available to investors - domestic and foreign - by the State Oceanic Administration, in the provinces of Zhejiang, Fujian, Hainan, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shandong and Liaoning, as well as in the autonomous region of Guangxi Zhuang.
http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2011-11/12/content_14084150.htm
http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2011-11/12/content_14082986.htm
