CHINA'S property market was once described as the "most important sector in the known universe" by Jonathan Anderson, formerly of UBS, a Swiss bank. It certainly felt that way on a recent visit to Sanya, the resort city in Hainan, known for its sea air and speculative vapours. Finding a real-estate agent in Sanya is as easy as buying a bucket-and-spade. Flyers advertising flats sprinkled the beachfront like sea-spray. A man on a bike handed them out to swimmers emerging from the sea. A flyer kept the sun off one man's neck and the sand off another man's shorts. I saw a couple walking along the beach with badminton rackets, a shuttlecock and, of course, a property flyer.