Private islands are new status symbols of wealthy Chinese

Real estates or luxury commodities are no longer satisfying the wealthy Chinese, as they head overseas to snap up islands, a new signature to mark their status, Cankao Xiaoxi ( Reference News), a newspaper affiliated to Xinhua reported Tuesday.

购房置地、大买奢侈品已经不能满足富裕的中国人了，他们将目光转向海外，抢购海岛，这如今成为标榜他们身份地位的新象征，新华社主办的《参考消息》周二报道。

Lin Dong, 42, a Guangdong entrepreneur who made his fortune from a medical equipment company, is one of a small but growing number of rich Chinese acquiring their own islands.

林东（音译），42岁，广东企业家，因为医药器材发家致富，他是千千万万购买岛屿的中国富人之一。

Since acquiring his first island nine years ago, Lin has bought more than 30 islands for 30 million yuan ($4.83 million).

九年前，他购买了属于自己的第一座岛屿，自那以来，他已经购买了30座岛屿，共花费三千万元（约合483万美元）。

Lin has founded China’s first association of island owners, China Island Owners Association, which currently has 53 members, two thirds of whom are from Chinese mainland and the rest are overseas Chinese.

林召集中国购岛的富人成立了一个协会，中国岛屿所有者协会，如今有53个会员，三分之二来自中国大陆，其余为海外华人。

There are at least 600 island owners in China, Lin estimates.

林估计，在中国，至少有600人海外购岛。

By the end of this month, around 70 wealthy Chinese assembled by Lin will head out to Fiji, Tuvalu and Tahiti to purchase islands in a group tour.

截止本月底，林召集了70多名中国富翁组团前往斐济、图瓦卢和塔希提购买岛屿。

Islands in China come with many restrictions on their use and a lease of just 50 years while most overseas islands are sold freehold, part of the reason why foreign islands are a hot cake.

中国岛屿在使用方面有诸多限制，租期只有五十年，而海外岛屿购买后拥有永久产权，这也是海外岛屿炙手可热的部分原因。

Lin said, there is an elite group that buys islands for pleasure alone, while some look at islands from an investment point of view, mostly corporations planning tourism or fishing development.

林表示，有一群精英团体购岛只为了娱乐，而一部分人则从投资角度出发，大部分是一些公司，用来发展旅游业和渔业。

"Buying islands is on the top of the pyramid of luxury commodities, and wealthy Chinese are showing growing interest in overseas islands in recent years", said Lin.

“购买岛屿是位于金字塔最上层的奢侈品，近几年，中国富豪购岛的兴趣大增。”

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 of them were sold within 12 hours. A construction magnate in Yunnan province bought islands in Greece for 6.2 million yuan and in Canada for 1.7 million yuan.

三月，斐济、希腊、英国和加拿大的四座岛屿在中国最大的网购平台淘宝网上公开拍卖，其中三座岛屿在12个小时内售出。云南一建筑业大佬分别花费620万和170万购买了希腊和加拿大的岛屿。

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来源:英语新闻网站爱语吧作者:刘瑞洁