Beijing has stopped the construction of seven golf courses that do not meet relevant requirements set by the government for building such projects, a government official said on Friday.

A recent check of the city's fixed assets investment projects shows that the Beijing Bi'an Qingtan golf project, the Jingying International Golf Course, the Beijing Jirui Changcheng Golf Club,the Beijing Jinshiji Gymnastic Club's golf course and the Beijing Shuifeng Mountain Villa golf project are being built in violation of relevant industrial policies and have not gone through all procedures for construction.

Construction of the five golf projects has been suspended.

The city government has also called off the planned Beijing Huadun Golf Club and the golf course of the Beijing Dongfang Sports and Recreation Center. Designs and original plans for the facilities of the projects were found to have been changed.

The seven golf course projects involve 1.04 billion yuan (US$125 million) in total investment.

The municipal government of Beijing has also decided to call off construction of two cement production lines, six office buildings and a training center project.

The Chinese government began early last year to rectify and strengthen management of land use in the country. Up to date, China has canceled 4,735 development zones, accounting for 70.2 percent of the nation's total.

Friday is the 14th National Land Day of China, which was first established in 1991 for the purpose of cherishing and making valid use of land and protecting arable land resources in the country.

(Xinhua News Agency June 26, 2004)