A Chinese tycoon seeking to buy a large area in Iceland to build a luxury resort says his plan is driven by commercial incentives and says there are no political motives behind the proposed project.

Beijing-based Huang Nubo, chairman of a private real estate company, spoke Wednesday, a day after Iceland's Interior Minister Ogmundur Jonasson said the Chinese proposal will require careful government scrutiny.

Jonasson's caution comes in apparent response to critics who question whether a Chinese citizen and reported former government official like Huang should control such a large piece of land in a strategic part of the North Atlantic.

Iceland, located mid-way between Europe and North America, is close to an area where several nations, including the United States and Russia, have overlapping Arctic seabed claims to potentially lucrative energy and mineral deposits.

There are reports that Huang's preliminary proposal includes plans to buy about 300 square kilometers of land in Iceland's northeast. The developer's company already owns resorts and tourist facilities throughout China and in other countries.