Abstract: Since the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, sea islands have become the focus of attention of all coastal states. China has a vast sea and numerous islands. These islands are not only an important backing for strengthening marine economy and expanding the space for development, but also a significant platform for protecting marine environment and maintaining ecological balance. With the development of coastal economy and the gradual increase of activities of island development and use, the problems of island management are beginning to emerge. To protect island natural resources and eco-environment, China will quicken the process of sea island legislation, improve the island planning and management, accelerate ecological conservation and restoration, deepen the institutional development for islands, strengthen island supervision and control, and raise the nationwide awareness of island.

Keywords: island management; policies; actions
Introduction
The 21st century is the century of ocean. As in important backing for strengthening marine economy and expanding the space for development, and a significant platform for protecting marine economy and maintaining ecological balance, the island is occupying an increasingly outstanding strategic position. Especially since the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the awareness of sea rights of coastal states have been further enhanced and islands have become the focus of attention among all coastal nations. With the upgrading of China’s scientific and technical level, and the strengthening of integrated national power, the effort of developing marine resources is being intensified constantly and the island’s role as an important base for national marine economy and social development is being increasingly raised.
China is a major marine state with a vast sea and numerous islands. In the 3 million km2 sea area under China’s jurisdiction are distributed tens of thousands of islands, among which more than 6500 have an area of over 500m2 each. The total area of islands amounts to 80,000km2, accounting for about 8% of the China’s land area. The insular coastline is as long as over 14000km and the number of people living on islands reaches nearly 40 million. The islands in China are unevenly distributed. In terms of the number of islands scattered in the sea area, the East China Sea has the largest number of islands, which accounts for 66% of the national total; the South China Sea comes second, about 26% of the national total; the Huanghai Sea occupies the third place and the Bohai Sea has the least number of islands. Zhejiang Province has the largest number of islands, which accounts for 49% of the national total; and next comes Fujian Province, whose number of islands accounts for about 21% of the national total. Apart from the above-mentioned distributional characteristics, sea islands in China have the following four features: Firstly, most islands are distributed in the littoral sea area, the number of islands which are less than 10 km away from the continent accounting for approximately over 67% of the total number of island in China; Secondly, the number of bedrock islands is the largest, accounting for about 93% of the national total; that of silt islands (alluvial island) about 6%, which are mainly distributed in the Bohai Sea and some majar estuaries; and that of coral islands the least, only about 1.6%, which are scattered mainly in the South China Sea. Thirdly, the islands are in distinct chain or group distributions, most in the form of archipelagoes or group of islands. Fourthly, over 98% of China’s islands are those with an area less than 5 km each. Sea islands are an important backing for China’s marine economy and social development.
Ⅰ、Present Situation of China’s Islands Management
China pays great attention to the development and protection of islands and has done a lot of highly effective work with respect to the organizational and institutional development, sea island protection and management, and scientific research supporting capabilities.
( I ) Preliminary establishment of the sea island regulatory authority
Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the specific work of managing sea islands in China has been the responsibility of local governments at all levels. Following the development over several dozen years, the special sea island regulatory authority has gradually taken shape at both central and local governments. In August, 2007, the State Oceanic Administration set up an internal mechanism——Office for Sea Island Management and its specific responsibilities are to: draw up policies, plans, administrative measures, technical specifications and standards for island protection and utilization; work out and adjust the name list of islands opening to the outside world, and formulate and publish the name list of focal islands for protection; delimit the protection range for territorial sea base points, protect and manage special-purpose islands; issue according to the relevant rules the certificate of uninhabited islands use rights, establish and organize the implementation of registration systems for the use rights of uninhabited islands and the title of attached structures and installations, and carry out according to the relevant rules the user pays system for uninhabited islands; establish and organize the implementation of uninhabited island ecological evaluation and value assessment systems, and the acknowledgement systems for the unit’s credentials and ability and the individual’s qualification for practicing their profession, supervise and manage construction of buildings and installations, treatment of waste water and solid wastes, manage the temporary uses of uninhabited islands, administer the establishment of island names and name signs, and issue the sea island statistics journal, etc. In July, 2008, the State Council changed the original Department of Sea Area Management into the Department of Sea Area and Island Management in assigning the responsibilities and tasks to the State Oceanic Administration, and within the department was set up the division of sea islands so that the responsibility with respect to sea island management has been further strengthened. The local governments of provinces, municipalities directly under the Central Government and autonomous regions, according to local realities, have set up special departments within the oceanic administrations or rely on special departments to take charge of the sea island management work.
Over recent twenty years, the State Oceanic Administration has continuously organized fourteen joint conferences on sea islands. The national sea island joint conference is the meeting convened by all island counties (districts) to strengthen exchange and cooperation and jointly work for development, also an important carrier through which the State marine administrative department supports the development of island construction.
( II ) Constant enhancement of island protection and management
Island ecological and environmental protection has been improved constantly. The sea island has a smaller space of land area, a fragile ecological environment and an overdense population. Besides, the excessive development by man has exerted extreme great pressure on the island’s ecology and environment. In the light of such a situation, the State Oceanic Administration strictly controls the island development and demands that rational arrangement be made of development projects, the unique functional role of each island be brought into full play, the protection and development scheme be worked out for the entire island, and scientific demonstration be made so as to avoid blindness.
The number of protected island areas is gradually increasing. Since 1963, China has set up nearly 20 national marine-type nature reserves and over 40 local marine-type protected areas. Most of these protected areas are located on the sea islands and in their neighbouring sea areas, such as Snake Island, Dazhou Island Marine Ecology, Sanya Coral Reef, Nanji Archipelago, Neilingding Island, Xiamen Rare Marine Life and other nature reserves. These protected areas have all established the appropriate regulatory authorities, improved and perfected the relevant laws, regulations and systems, strengthened law enforcement and management and brought into full play the initiative of the local broad masses of people so that they are playing an immeasurable role in preventing island ecological deterioration and promoting the protection of typical natural marine ecosystems.
Management of uninhabited islands has been intensified gradually. To guide and standardize the national island administration and on the basis of earnestly summarizing the practical experiences, in 2003, the State Oceanic Administration together with other departments conceraed jointly issued the Regulations on the Management of Uninhabited Island Protection and Use, which further formulates the administrative work of uninhabited islands, establiched such systems as uninhabited islands protection plan, user pays and application, examination and approval, names management, protection and improvement etc. According to statistics, the coastal local governments have continuously intensified the administrative work on islands, and governments of nearly 20 coastal cities and counties throughout the country have issued uninhabited island administrative regulations and normative documents.
( III ) Gradual evolvement of island scientific research supporting capability
China attaches great importance to the scientific research on islands. In 1988, the State Oceanic Administration and other departments organized launching the National Integrated Island Resources Survey and Development Experiment, which, from beginning to end, took eight years and cost up to one hundred million yuan (RMB), resulting in a total of several thousand volumes of data; In recent years, in the course of marine administrative work and such activities as scientific research and survey conducted by various departments and professions, a batch of work achievements have been resulted from island observation, survey, research and management. The above-mentioned data have provided important data basis and background data for island construction, management and scientific research in China.
In 2002, the State Oceanic Administration started to sort out the historical data of islands and establish the island basic database systems, and, at the beginning of 2004, initiated in an all-round way the national coastal zone and island basic database construction of the national island data management system.
The island ecological restoration work is also one of the important scientific researches. In the light of the various damages done to island ecology, ecological restoration experiments have been undertaken with a clear aim and have got initial results. Moreover, a lot of basic research work has been done with respect to the island ecological evaluation, including defining the evaluation indexes and methods as well as system construction etc., and a large amount of in-depth theoretical researches have been done on the island ecological protection, compensation for damage and values assessment.
Ⅱ、Problems in the Current Island Management
At present, our country lacks adequate understanding of the importance of islands and the island planning, and the administrative policies research lag behind. With the gradual increase of activities of island development and use, problems are cropping up. Firstly, the economic development of island regions lags behind on the whole and has insufficient staying power; Secondly, the social public utilities and infrastructure are weak and the production and living conditions are harsh; Thirdly, the damage to island resources is aggravated and the ecological environment has somewhat deteriorated; Fourthly, the island legal system is not sound, and the development and construction lack standards; Fifthly, the development of island region lacks sufficient policy support, and the input is far from adequate; and sixthly, the island managerial system is not smooth and short of unified and integrated management. These problems are quite unfavourable for the island development and use. We are to push forward the promulgation of island policies and legal system to provide guarantee for the sustainable development of island economy and society.
Ⅲ、China’s Action Plans for Island Management
With a view to solving the above-mentioned problems as soon as possible, strengthening the island eco-environmental protection and promoting the permanent and sustainable use of island resources, we will adhere to the policy of giving first place to protection and keeping development to an appropriate pace, unswervingly take the road of sustainable development and put emphasis on doing well the following work:
( I ) Speeding up the process of island legislation
Island legislation is the basic prerequisite of managing islands according to law. On June 22, 2009, the 9th Session of the Standing Committee of the 11th National People’s Congress reviewed for the first time the draft Sea Island Protection Law. The draft includes 60 articles in 7 chapters, which are successively the general provisions, island protection plan, island ecological protection, management of special-purpose island, supervision and inspection, legal liabilities and supplementary provisions, establishing the basic systems such as those of uninhabited island titlehood, island protection and planning, island ecological protection, special-purpose island management, etc. The most majority of the NPC Standing Committee members actively supported the promulgation of this law and hoped that the State would establish and perfect the island managerial system and realize step by step island protection, use and construction according to law. They also proposed an amendment to the draft, hoping that it would be examined and approved after revision and improvement as soon as possible.
( II ) Improving island planning and management
After promulgation of the Law of the Island, we shall draw up the national island protection plan according to the legal requirements and the island’s locational characteristics, resource and environment condition and carrying capacity, and guide the ecological protection of inhabited islands and the protection and use activities of uninhabited islands. Coastal people’s governments at all levels should draw up their local island protection plans according to the national island protection plan and the needs of local island protection work. The purpose of drawing up and implementing the island protection plan is to increase the benefit of the integrated use of islands and strengthen the State’s capability of managing the island. For the sea islands that are fit for development, it is necessary, on the basis of scientific demonstration and according to the requirements of the island protection plans at various levels, to work out the island protection plan, clarify the functional niche, choose the rational ways of development and use, and carry out moderate development under condition that island ecological resources and environment are well protected.
( III ) Quickening ecological protection and restoration
Islands are an important link in the national ecological safety system and also provide a natural defence for resisting natural calamities. It is necessary to work out appropriate measures of ecological protection in the light of the type and importance of islands. For the special-purpose islands that have been damaged due to natural or man-made factors, it is to strengthen their renovation and restoration; For the islands with special values of landscape, landscape protection and environmental improvement should be furthered; For the existing reclamation and island-tying projects which have been found upon evaluation to have adverse effect on the ecology of islands and their surrounding sea area, relevant measures should be taken for improvement; For the heavily polluted islands and their surrounding sea area, it is necessary to strictly control the discharge of pollutants and carry out the focal area water pollution prevention and control projects; For those uninhabited islands which are soon to be developed and constructed, it is necessary to limit the rate of volume, height and the distance to the coastline of the buildings and installations so that they may be in harmony with the surrounding vegetation and landscapes. A favourable environment may be created for the economic and social development of island regions by means of island ecological protection and restoration.
( IV )Deepening the institutional development of islands
In the light of the needs of island managerial work, the State will further deepen the island institutional development and bring forth new management mechanisms. At the national level, continued effort will be made to further carry out island management functions. The coastal localities should coordinate the departments concerned to do well the island managerial work according to the realities of local island work and demand for management.
( V )Intensifying island supervision and control
We will make full use of existing forces to strengthen the island cruising inspection for law enforcement, expand the crusing range, increase the frequency of crusing, establish and perfect the whole-island regular inspection system. Island surveillance and monitoring is carried out with satellite remote-sensing, aerial remote-sensing, ground surveillance and monitoring data acquisition as main tools so as to realize the full-coverage and high-precision surveillance and monitoring over China’s islands. Regular island surveys will be organized to grasp the basic situation of China’s island in an all-round way and improve the island management information system. Through island supervision, we are to find the illegal acts and crack down on illegal activities so as to achieve the purpose of island ecological protection and sustainable use.
( VI )Raise the whole nation’s awareness of the importance of the island
We shall strengthen the publicity about islands among the public, enhance the whole society’s understanding of island values, increase the knowledge of the public on island and island culture and create in the whole society a good atmosphere of caring for island development and protecting island ecology, thus making greater contributions to the promotion of harmonious development among economy, society and environment in the island region.
Concluding Remarks
With unique locational advantages and abundant natural resources, islands occupy an important strategic position in the modernization drive. To carry forward the island economic and social development and strengthen island protection and management are an important content of adjusting and optimizing the economic structure and fostering new areas of growth, an objective need of changing the backward state of islands and promoting regional harmonious development, a urgent request for raising the living standards of island inhabitants, and constructing harmonious society, and an inevitable option of maintaining the marine ecological environment and accomplishing the sustainable development. Chinese governments at all levels must be guided by the concept of scientific development, strengthen planning and management, persist in administering the island according to law, protecting the island environment and building the China’s island region into a pearl on the sea with prosperous economy, stable society and beautiful environment.