Islands are new status symbols of the wealthy

Lin was reported as saying islands in the South Pacific and Canada have become the most popular, as most are sold freehold.

In March, four islands in Fiji, Greece, the United Kingdom and Canada were put up for auction on China's largest online shopping platform Taobao, and three were sold within 12 hours.

A construction magnate from Yunnan province reportedly bought the islands in Greece for 6.2 million yuan and in Canada for 1.7 million yuan.

In contrast to the popularity of these overseas islands, the idea of buying a Chinese island has appeared less popular, as they can only be used for a maximum 50 years, according to Chinese regulations.

Thirty-one uninhabited islands off East China's Zhejiang province were opened for development in 2011, for example, but just one has so far managed to sell any property rights.

According to Yang Weihua, general manager of an investment company in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, who has obtained rental rights for his own island, the biggest difficulty lies in building facilities onsite, which might have to include major infrastructure needed to cope with sometimes brutal weather out at sea.

"The development of uninhabited Chinese islands is in its very preliminary days, with lots of problems still to be addressed," said Cui Wanglai, a professor at the School of Management at Zhejiang Ocean University.

"Developers are adopting a 'wait-and-see' attitude, but with the country's overall plans for the ocean economy, the value of these islands is likely to grow in the future," Cui said.