Explainer | Why Ocean Flower Island – dubbed ‘Dubai of China’ – is important to China Evergrande Group and Hainan province

China Evergrande Group, the world’s most indebted developer, was last week ordered to demolish 39 buildings on Ocean Flower Island, a project comprising three man-made islands developed by the company in China’s southern Hainan province, within 10 days.

The order, issued by the Danzhou Municipal People’s Government on December 30, states that an illegally obtained permit for the buildings had been revoked and that the buildings now needed to be dismantled, according to media reports.

Ocean Flower Island, known as “Haihua” in Chinese, is an enormous artificial island off the north coast of Danzhou, in Hainan province. Fully opened in late 2020, the controversial project is the world’s largest man-made tourism island, covering about 800 hectares (1,980 acres) – or 1.5 times bigger than Dubai’s Palm Island. This has earned it the nickname “Dubai of China”.