China will strengthen its resource exploration in the next five years, Li Yuan, vice-minister of the Ministry of Land and Resources, said on Friday at the start of a high-profile meeting on the ministry's work plans for the next five years.

It is expected that the ministry will try to find 4-4.5 billion tons of petroleum, 2-2.5 trillion cubic meters of natural gas, 2.5 billion tons of iron ore, 20 million tons of copper ore, and 100 billion tons of coal during the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10) period, Li said.

"The ascertainment will serve as insurance for the country's sustainable development," Li said.

In the next five years, the land used for construction will be strictly controlled, especially construction projects on farmland.

The ministry will finish the national land use plan outline in June 2006, aiming for better use and protection of the country's land resources, Li said. The plan will focus on protecting farmland, controlling construction land use and saving land resources.

Next year, in order to implement the country's policy of stabilizing the pricing of real estate, the ministry will enhance land supply for real estate developers of medium and small-sized apartments, strictly control land supply for high-end real estate projects of low density and stop villa construction.

The vice-minister stressed that illegal activities such as profiteering from land sales would be strictly forbidden.

In 2005, a total of 4,631 hectares of land have been saved from construction use nationwide. And illegal land use under the excuse of creating local development zones has been effectively curbed, he said.

Li added the first batch of 35 development zones' boundaries has been verified.

(China Daily December 17, 2005)