The "King of Villas," a giant property that has emerged on the real estate market recently in Nanjing, the capital city of East China's Jiangsu Province, has spawned heated debate over a spending spree on land and homes.

The villa covers an area of 8,000 square metres with floor space of 3,000 square metres. Its base price could total as much as 50 million yuan (US$6 million).

People are asking why such a massive luxury villa has been built? Is there a market demand for such a large house? Who would like to buy it? And will it encourage the already surging spending trend on housing in the country?

No one knows the answers for certain. However, the figures speak for themselves.

Translated in land, 8,000 square metres equates to 0.8 hectare.

What does 0.8 hectare mean? That's the average total farmland shared by eight people in the country.

The per capita farmland of the country is less than 0.1 hectare, only about 40 per cent of the world's average, Ministry of Land and Resources statistics show.

Sun Wensheng, minister of land and resources, last week called for the establishment of a tightened land management system that can guarantee the economic and effective use of land resources. Sun made the remarks while attending a national working conference on land management in Wuxi in Jiangsu Province.

The conference aims to highlight "economic and intensive use of land" the theme of this year's National Land Day, which falls tomorrow.

"Fifteen years have passed since the establishment of National Land Day in 1991, which has helped raise awareness about the need to preserve land resources and protect farmland in China," Sun said.

China was the first country in the world to designate a land day. Various activities to push for the rational use of land are carried out every June 25.

However, the country has faced an increasingly austere land situation in recent years, using limited land area to feed the growing population, to expand urbanization and to preserve the environment.

Statistics show the country's farmland has shrunk on average 267,000 hectares annually in recent years. That means the per capita arable land reduces by an average 2 per cent annually.

With speedy pace of urbanization, more than 6.66 million hectares of farmland have disappeared in the past eight years to make way for construction.

Meanwhile, a large area of land was used carelessly.

The latest land survey made by the Ministry of Land and Resources has found that, by the end of last year, 266,000 hectares of construction land in the country had been left untouched after receiving construction approval.

It is estimated that by 2030, China's population is expected to reach 1.6 billion with the per capita farmland of 0.07 hectares, reaching the world commonly recognized per capita farmland alert level.

Threatened with such hard conditions, China has no land resources to spare, said Xia Jiechang, an economist with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

"A series of measures like taxation have been introduced to control the problems of land waste and price distortions and could therefore help prevent property developers from hoarding land to manipulate supply," Xia said.

Land is the dearest thing in Wenzhou, in East China's Zhejiang Province.

Every day, representatives of dozens of local enterprises and institutions wait in long queues for land-use applications at the city's Land and Resources Bureau.

However the city does not have enough land for them to develop their businesses, Zhu Jianyun, an official with the bureau admits.

At present, Wenzhou has roughly 36,600 hectares of land fit for construction, which is expected to be used up within 10 years if the city maintains the present land use pace. The city consumed 18,000 hectares of land for construction during 1999 to 2003, Zhu said.

While Wenzhou feels bitter for having no industrial land to develop, Leqing, a nearby small city in the precinct of Wenzhou, squanders land.

When entering Leqing, people will see a large group of new workshops, only three to four storeys, which are surrounded by trees and grasslands. These workshops belong to electronic giant Chint Group, the largest private enterprise in the Wenzhou area.

Wandering in the plant area, which has vast grassland and numerous trees, people feel they are entering a garden.

In Zhejiang, a province with per capita farmland of 33 square metres, such "garden-like" factories have not been a rare entity, especially in the past five years. Vast green lands are a symbol for being environmentally friendly. Moreover, it is a sign for richness and power, local entrepreneurs believe.

Vast green belts as large as a football field have also been introduced at some food-processing factories, which should have high hygiene requirements and are not suited for too much grass and trees.

As local governments feel increasing land tension, these kind of "garden-like" factories have become a taboo in many places including Zhenjiang of Jiangsu, Chengdu of Sichuan, the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong and Shandong and Fujian provinces.

"Easy approval for land use in recent years encouraged developers and enterprises to earmark large areas if possible. Some land for construction hasn't been touched for years after it was approved," said Xia with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

"The market mechanism, featuring transparency and impartiality, is the best way to resolve the problems of land waste," he said.

The latest central government measures have changed the land-use conditions by requiring developers to begin construction on acquired sites within a shorter period of time. Land that is not developed for more than a year will be taxed, while land left unused for more than two years could result in revoked permits.

Lawmakers will finish a third revision of the country's overall land use plan by the end of 2006 to encourage effective use of land, said Shu Kexin, deputy director of the Land Use Department under the Ministry of Land and Resources.

Economic integration is conducive to reducing waste of land and natural resources and increasing local competitiveness, Shu said.

For example, in Fuzhou, capital of East China's Fujian Province, local government encourages industrial enterprises to be built in several integrated industrial zones to fully utilize their resources. Enterprises from other cities are also allowed to establish business in the zones.

In the past, enterprises in the city have operated individually without consideration for the whole situation, which has created an overlap of basic facilities, local officials said.

"Intensive use of land and closer co-operation on economic integration can guarantee an effective use of resources and will ensure a win-win situation for all enterprises," Shu said.

(China Daily June 24, 2005)