The island has attracted about 53.65 billion won ($45.2 million) worth of provisional contracts with Chinese investors since May this year, the news service said, quoting figures from Jeju-based realty firm Raon Leisure Development Company. Chinese developers are also said to be in talks with local realtors to build more residential, commercial and leisure facilities in Jeju. Majority of the interested individual investors are professionals in their 30s and 40s seeking second homes in a comfortable environment.

Jeju is attracting attention not only because of its proximity to China, but also because of its relatively lower real estate prices. The island also enjoys the status as the nation's only free international city, which means getting to it does not require a visa, residents enjoy lower taxes, and business licensing to foreigners is easier. Foreigners who purchase property worth more than $500,000 are also awarded the right of permanent residency.

"They don’t necessarily come here to live, but it’s an irresistible attraction to them in many ways considering advantages like visa-free access and tax incentives," Son Mi-yeong, sales management chief of Raon, was quoted as having said.

China has surpassed Japan as the second largest economy in the world and is touted to overtake the US as the largest by 2027, a separate research by Fidelity International shows. The heated housing market in the Mainland has caused a lot of China's affluent to look beyond their borders and eye housing and investment opportunities in the likes of Australia, Japan, the UK and US. Jeju's investment appeal and growing popularity with the Chinese is likely to move it up the ladder in Chinese' priority list for wealth building and settlement.