As instances of illegal land occupation remain common, China has published a new statute in an attempt to ensure the proper use of 121 million hectares of arable land.

In recent years, such land has been illegally rented, seized or used without government approval, which has triggered rising resentment among farmers and nationwide concerns about grain supply.

"Not only should the violators themselves be strictly punished, local officials should also be held responsible for serious, illegal land grabs that occurred within their jurisdiction," said an official with the Ministry of Supervision.

According to the regulation, if illegally occupied arable land accounts for 15 percent or more of newly acquired land within a given year, local leaders will be held responsible.

In reference to the 15-percent figure, the official explained: "In most cases, local government officials are not directly responsible for illegal land-grabbing activities, and we cannot assign them responsibility whenever an illegal case is uncovered. We only punish them when the local land use wrongdoing reaches a certain amount, so a scale is necessary."

He added: "The figure was based on a nationwide survey on land usage over the past three years and the analysis of illegal land-related cases in recent years."

From 2004 to 2006, an average of 150,400 ha of cultivated land was acquired annually. Of this, 17 percent was illegally occupied. In 2007, official figures show that 43,000 ha of land had been illegally acquired, up 67.6 percent from 2006.

"In recent years, the situation of illegal land grabs has worsened in terms of scope and amount. One of the key reasons is that the existing regulations don't necessarily assign responsibility to local government officials," he said. He added that official malfeasance had led to many illegal activities.

Between Sept. 15 and Jan. 15, China launched its broadest crackdown on illegal land grabs in recent years. During the campaign, some 31,700 cases of unlawful land seizure were uncovered, involving about 224,267 ha.

Nearly 60 percent of the land was used without government approval. The rest was illegally rented or seized, a government official told reporters at a recent press conference.

During the crackdown, disciplinary punishments were imposed on 2,864 people and 535 received criminal penalties.

The new statute is intended to limit the power of government officials and regulate their behavior.

The statute, "Methods for Punishing Violations of Regulations on Land Management", will replace the "Provisional Methods for Punishing Violations of Regulations on Land Management" as it takes effect on Sunday.

The document was jointly issued by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Ministry of Supervision, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and the Ministry of Land Resources.

China had 121 million ha of arable land at the end of 2006, down 8.3 million hectares from 1996.

"The new, strict statute is bound to reduce rampant illegal land use in the future," said Cheng Bin, lawyer with the Beijing Kaiyuan Law Firm. "People are looking forward to seeing its effects."

(Xinhua News Agency May 30, 2008)