{"id":496102,"date":"2010-03-31T16:26:00","date_gmt":"2010-03-31T20:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16711557.post-2059184264815448713"},"modified":"2010-03-31T16:26:59","modified_gmt":"2010-03-31T20:26:59","slug":"on-chinas-hainan-island-the-economic-boom-is-deafening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/496102","title":{"rendered":"On China’s Hainan Island, the Economic Boom is Deafening"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Hainan Island in the People’s Republic of China is undergoing an economic boom amidst the global crisis of world capitalism.<\/a>
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n

March 30, 2010 <\/p>\n

On China\u2019s Hainan Island, the Boom Is Deafening <\/p>\n

By EDWARD WONG
New York Times <\/p>\n

SANYA, China \u2014 One developer is building what he calls Asia\u2019s largest hotel, with space for a casino and a greyhound racetrack. <\/p>\n

The Visun Royal Yacht Club, China\u2019s largest, plans to buy a helicopter for the use of its members. A golf course that charges $180 per round is opening 220 villas, each with its own butler, swimming pool and spa \u2014 \u201cI want to get it into the Guinness Book of World Records for the most spas anywhere,\u201d the manager says. <\/p>\n

Then there are the property speculators flying to this resort town from across China with bagfuls of cash, to buy apartments whose cost per square foot rivals parts of Manhattan. Five-star hotels during the recent Lunar New Year holiday charged $1,500 or more per night; one company charged $80 just to camp out in a tent. <\/p>\n

In the last two months, Hainan, an island the size of Belgium in the South China Sea, has become a potent symbol of China\u2019s economic vitality \u2014 or, perhaps, its excesses. Even in a country where new wealth spawns new tales of luxury living every day, Hainan is viewed with a mix of awe, envy and disgust. <\/p>\n

The boom here, unfolding as much of the world grapples with a recession, is fueled by a first-of-its-kind edict from the nation\u2019s top leaders: On Dec. 31, the State Council, the Chinese cabinet, issued a memorandum that said Hainan had been designated a \u201ctest case\u201d in developing an \u201cinternationally competitive tourist destination.\u201d <\/p>\n

Investors are interpreting that as a no-holds-barred effort to remake Hainan into the Chinese equivalent of Monaco, Las Vegas and Hawaii. While there is no clear indication that the authorities will permit the introduction of licensed casino gambling, some are betting that Hainan could overtake Macao, the former Portguese colony that is now under Chinese sovereignty, as China\u2019s preferred island of iniquity. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s as if they\u2019ve injected a growth hormone into the economic development here, and people are wondering how it will all turn out,\u201d said Xie Xiangxiang, the head of the Sanya Tourism Association. <\/p>\n

The Hainan gold rush is the buzz across China. One American businessman in Beijing, Christopher Reynolds, said a group of Chinese artists told him to invest in Hainan real estate. Chinese couples on dates in Beijing restaurants chatter about it. In February, the average sales price of property in Sanya and Haikou, Hainan\u2019s two main cities, showed a 50 percent increase over the same month last year, five times the national rate, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are coming with entire bags full of cash,\u201d said Raymond Hau, general manager of the Sun Valley Golf Resort, which is building the 220 luxury villas. \u201cI\u2019ve seen this myself. A man had a bag and unzipped it. Boom. \u2018Here\u2019s the deposit,\u2019 he said. \u2018I want two apartments.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n

Mr. Hau shook his head. \u201cIt\u2019s crazy. It can only happen in China.\u201d <\/p>\n

The golf resort is popular with the privileged. The president of Kazakhstan shot a hole in one here. And on a recent afternoon, when an attendant opened the passenger door of a black sport-utility vehicle that had just pulled up, a pile of large-denomination Chinese bills fluttered to the ground. <\/p>\n

Billboards across Hainan advertise property for sale in developments with names like Miami and East Bahamas. The face of Zhang Ziyi, one of China\u2019s most popular actresses, is plastered on some of the advertisements. The most prominent development is a series of four luxury apartment towers and a \u201cseven star\u201d hotel on Phoenix Island, a spit of sand off the coast that was created by the provincial government as a cruise ship dock. <\/p>\n

The apartments \u2014 sweeping sea views, bathtubs on balconies and sofas wrapped in velvet \u2014 are being pre-sold for an average of $885 per square foot, comparable to New York prices, said Wu Lei, a spokeswoman for the real estate company. <\/p>\n

The hype over Hainan has inspired criticism from many quarters. In an interview, Han Han, China\u2019s most popular blogger, expressed contempt for the investment pouring into the island. Last month, People\u2019s Daily and China Youth Daily, both official newspapers, ran editorials lamenting the rising housing and hotel prices. The editors appeared concerned that the stratospheric prices could highlight, for many Chinese, the growing class divide in this country. <\/p>\n

\u201cHow can we create a stable and harmonious living environment if the island\u2019s ordinary residents do not have the ability to buy housing?\u201d wrote the editors of People\u2019s Daily. <\/p>\n

Even officials in Hainan seem worried. In mid-January, the provincial government announced a temporary halt to new commercial development projects. Gambling is another uncertainty. Some officials have said only modest forms of betting will be allowed, while others say Hainan could push the limits. <\/p>\n

At the moment, gambling is banned across China, except in Macao. <\/p>\n

The history of Hainan in the 1990s offers a cautionary tale. Early that decade, after the Chinese government had designated Hainan one of the country\u2019s \u201cspecial economic zones,\u201d property speculators flocked to the island. Some of China\u2019s most successful real estate magnates, including Pan Shiyi of Soho China and Feng Lun of the Vantone Group, made their first fortunes on Hainan. Across China, the island\u2019s freewheeling capitalism became synonymous with corruption. The bubble burst after a few years, and the island stagnated. <\/p>\n

Now, in Sanya, even those benefiting from the current boom say property and hotel prices have reached absurd levels. \u201cThere\u2019s no real economy,\u201d said Lin Mingkun, the manager of the yacht club and a condo owner. \u201cIt\u2019s a bubble economy.\u201d <\/p>\n

Some residents say they are being priced out of housing options. On the west side of the yacht marina, there is a neighborhood where more than 1,000 fishermen and family members live in cramped alleyways. <\/p>\n

The families have lived here for generations, but local officials and the real estate company that owns the yacht club, Hongzhou Group, are trying to persuade them to move off the land. Four women sitting outside one home said the Hongzhou Group was offering less than $20 a square foot as compensation. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf we get kicked out, there won\u2019t be a house for the next generation,\u201d said one, Ms. Shi, 48, who agreed to speak on the condition that only her last name be printed. <\/p>\n

Mr. Lin said the Hongzhou Group was building an apartment complex across the harbor for the families and would pay them more than $40 per square foot for their property. The fishing boats would be moved into another bay, he said. <\/p>\n

The Hongzhou company, with its gleaming Times Coast condominium development by the marina, is in the vanguard of Hainan\u2019s transformation. The yacht club already boasts more than 80 members who have each paid $92,000 for the privilege of parking their boats here for 23 years. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn China, Sanya will be the leader in luxury leisure,\u201d Wang Dafu, the owner of Hongzhou, said one afternoon while cruising the bay in his 72-foot Pershing yacht. <\/p>\n

He puffed on a Cohiba cigar. \u201cThe reason you earn money,\u201d he said, \u201cis to spend it.\u201d <\/p>\n

Xiyun Yang contributed reporting.
<\/p>\n

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