It has been called China’s Dubai — a huge, glitzy island city devoted to leisure and pleasure.
Ocean Flower Island is said to be the world largest artificial island, at one and a half times the size of The Palm Jumeirah, but it is actually three separate islands linked by causeways.
The project opened in 2020 after 12 years of construction and cost $25 billion (Dh88 billion).
But it has had its fair share of controversies: the project was approved by Zhang Qi, a local politician later convicted of corruption. He was also accused of overruling environment protection laws to permit construction, causing lasting damage to coral reefs and oyster populations.
The developer is the troubled Evergrande Group, the Chinese property company now struggling to pay an estimated $300 billion in liabilities.
Although not explicitly linked, the company’s shares were briefly suspended from trading this week at the same time Evergrande was ordered to demolish 39 buildings on part of Ocean Flower.
The partially completed apartment blocks, covering 435,000 square metres, are said to have been given the go-ahead only after building permits were obtained illegally, with the company given 10 days to comply with a demolition order.
Evergrande said it would actively communicate with authorities to resolve the issue.
The developer added that the order has no impact on the rest of the development.
The dispute has cast a cloud over what would otherwise be a triumph of Chinese architecture and engineering.
Ocean Flower Island is located in Hainan, an island province that sits off the southern coast of China, about 2,000 kilometres from Beijing, with year-round tropical weather.
Shaped like a peony flower, the island complex covers about eight square kilometres, much of it earmarked for accommodation for up to 200,000 visitors.
The central area, known as Ocean Flower Island No 1, is designed as a self-contained holiday destination. Among the attractions are “Fairyland”, a fantasy-themed amusement park, and “Snow Mountain”, a water park
Futuristic buildings sit next to reproductions of historic cityscapes, with an opera house, convention centre, hot springs, a wedding manor, botanical gardens and a marine aquarium adding to the mix.
Duty-free shopping malls, 12 Michelin-starred restaurants and luxury hotels, including a Hilton, are designed to appeal to China’s growing middle class, with operators aiming to bring in 5.5 million visitors during the first year of operation, including 200,000 for the country's national day.
As the official English language video for the resort puts it: “China has done it again. There is no other entertainment venue on this planet that can top the Ocean Flower Island.”
For the present, though, Ocean Flower Island remains out of bounds to the rest of the world, its ambition to become an international tourist destination to equal or eclipse Dubai put on hold by China’s strict zero-Covid-19 policy.
Dubai's 2040 master plan: in pictures
French business
France has organised a delegation of leading businesses to travel to Syria. The group was led by French shipping giant CMA CGM, which struck a 30-year contract in May with the Syrian government to develop and run Latakia port. Also present were water and waste management company Suez, defence multinational Thales, and Ellipse Group, which is currently looking into rehabilitating Syrian hospitals.
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Muslim Council of Elders condemns terrorism on religious sites
The Muslim Council of Elders has strongly condemned the criminal attacks on religious sites in Britain.
It firmly rejected “acts of terrorism, which constitute a flagrant violation of the sanctity of houses of worship”.
“Attacking places of worship is a form of terrorism and extremism that threatens peace and stability within societies,” it said.
The council also warned against the rise of hate speech, racism, extremism and Islamophobia. It urged the international community to join efforts to promote tolerance and peaceful coexistence.
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Crops that could be introduced to the UAE
1: Quinoa
2. Bathua
3. Amaranth
4. Pearl and finger millet
5. Sorghum
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Best Academy: Ajax and Benfica
Best Agent: Jorge Mendes
Best Club : Liverpool
Best Coach: Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
Best Goalkeeper: Alisson Becker
Best Men’s Player: Cristiano Ronaldo
Best Partnership of the Year Award by SportBusiness: Manchester City and SAP
Best Referee: Stephanie Frappart
Best Revelation Player: Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid and Portugal)
Best Sporting Director: Andrea Berta (Atletico Madrid)
Best Women's Player: Lucy Bronze
Best Young Arab Player: Achraf Hakimi
Kooora – Best Arab Club: Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia)
Kooora – Best Arab Player: Abderrazak Hamdallah (Al-Nassr FC, Saudi Arabia)
Player Career Award: Miralem Pjanic and Ryan Giggs
OPINIONS ON PALESTINE & ISRAEL
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
The biog
Age: 59
From: Giza Governorate, Egypt
Family: A daughter, two sons and wife
Favourite tree: Ghaf
Runner up favourite tree: Frankincense
Favourite place on Sir Bani Yas Island: “I love all of Sir Bani Yas. Every spot of Sir Bani Yas, I love it.”
The view from The National
