"Land should be supplied on a much stricter basis," Vice Premier
Zeng
Peiyan said at a State Council meeting that discussed the third
revision of the national land use plan, which was held in Beijing
on Tuesday.?
The revised plan aims to provide a "golden rule" for land
management and urban-rural construction until 2020.?
The revision will be based on thorough field surveys and an
objective evaluation of existing land resources. Policy appraisal
and topical workshops will also be included in the preparatory
work, according to Sun Wensheng, minister of land and
resources.
The mode of land use should be shifted to "intensive" from
"extensive," since China faces issues both of a large population
and a shortage of land, Zeng said.?
Sun said all provincial branches are to wrap up their
evaluations of existing development plans by December and to
compile all data and field survey reports by next March.?
Sun also stressed that current land development plans remain
valid and must be faithfully realized.?
"No departments or individuals are allowed to change their
original plans without prior approval from higher
authorities,"?he added.?
China has revised its national land?use plan twice since
1986.
"China is developing so rapidly that the previous plan that has
already been in use for eight years needs updating," Sun said.
(Xinhua News Agency July 15, 2005)