China's Ministry of Land and Resources said on Tuesday that over
60 percent of the new land acquisitions for construction purposes
in Chinese cities since last September are illegal.
The figure is even as high as 90 percent in some cities, said
the ministry, quoting data collected from its latest check of land
use.
A survey conducted by the ministry in 15 cities last year shows
that from October 2003 to September 2005, 52.8 percent of the land
acquisitions for construction were illegal.
The ministry has demanded its provincial counterparts expose at
least three illegal cases in June and more than eight cases by the
end of the year.
If they do not investigate the illegal cases, the local land and
resources departments should be deprived of the power to ratify new
land use, said the ministry.
Surging land demand has led to soaring investment and fast
growth of fixed asset investment. Government statistics show that
China's fixed asset investment rose 29.6 percent to 1.8 trillion
yuan (US$224.7 billion) in the first four months.
The central government has adopted administrative and financial
measures to cap the overheated real estate sector. But the local
governments did not strictly follow the regulations due to various
considerations concerning local interests.
(Xinhua News Agency June 7, 2006)