Man supposedly 'buys' part of sea in China worth S$135,838 as gift for unhappy girlfriend

Next level.

Guan Zhen Tan | June 01, 2019, 04:53 PM

May 20 is like a second Valentine's Day for many mainland Chinese couples, given that the day sounds a little like "I love you" in Mandarin.

For one Chinese woman, her May 20th didn't go so well.

Upset that her boyfriend did not give her present

According to screenshots of a chat that were posted online, this woman appeared to be upset that her boyfriend did not give her a present on that day because he was swamped with work.

Screenshot via The Paper

Woman: "This was how other people spent their May 20th. I'm unhappy."

Man: "I'm really sorry baby, it's just that I've been way too busy recently and I forgot..."

Man: "Don't cry dear, what would you like? I'll make it up to you, alright?"

Woman: "Make it up to me? Can you bring back a day that has passed? I want all the stars in the sky and all the sea below, try making it up to me with that!"

In response, the absolute madman apparently did just that.

Screenshot via The Paper

Man: "Hey, what's my baby doing?"

Woman: *cold face sticker*

Man: "I bought this part of the sea for you, my dear."

Man: "I have already paid the deposit."

The woman later expressed her shock when she shared the screenshots of the chat on WeChat.

Apparently, the man had purchased the rights to use 210 hectares of the sea off the coast of Shandong province.

Screenshot via The Paper

Woman: "May 20th came late...is my boyfriend crazy?"

Rights to sea area put up for auction

Rights to use the particular area of the sea in question had been put up on the auctioning platform and website 阿里拍卖, Ali Auctions, on May 27.

Ali Auctions belongs to the same group of companies as Taobao.

Earlier this year on April 25, an official notice by the Qingdao Maritime court was put up regarding the auction.

Screenshot via 阿里拍卖

According to the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Administration of the Use of Sea Areas, Article 3 states that the sea is owned by the state, and no entity or individual may seize, buy or sell areas of the sea or illegally transfer them in other ways.

However, any entity or individual that intends to use areas of the sea is required to obtain the right to their use in accordance with the law.

According to Article 16, such rights are open to any entity as well as individuals. It can also be procured through bidding or auctions.

Article 20 of the law states that "the plan for bidding or auction shall be formulated by the department in charge of marine administration and submitted to the people's government invested with the examination and approval authority for approval before it is implemented".

Costly

The auction took place from May 27 to 28, and the rights were sold to one buyer.

Screenshot via 阿里拍卖

The person who purchased the rights to use the sea spent 682,662 yuan (S$135,838.37) on it.

To secure the purchase, the buyer would also have had to pay a deposit of 120,000 yuan, or S$23,878.

According to Next Shark, the rights will expire in 2029.

Shanghaiist also reported that users on the social media platform Weibo suspect that this might be a marketing ploy for the auction platform.

Furthermore, there's also the question of what the buyer can do with the usage rights of the sea.

On its auction listing, the area is described to be mainly used for fishing and can be used for the developments of fisheries and aquaculture.

Screenshot via 阿里拍卖

Top image adapted via 阿里拍卖 and The Paper