China launched an investigation into 9,900 illegal land requisition cases during the first quarter of this year in a national crackdown on illegal use of land, the country's land minister said Friday.

Addressing a national meeting attended by local land and resources directors, Sun Wensheng, minister of Land and Resources, said governments at all levels have uncovered 16,000 cases involving unauthorized use of land.

The crackdown has checked the rampant use of farmland for industrial development, said Sun.

The land earmarked for construction projects as approved by the State Council in urban areas during the first quarter was down by 46 percent over the average quarterly figure for last year, he said.

Paid use of a total of 35,400 ha of land was approved during the quarter and 26 percent was sold via public bidding.

The minister said the central government's strategy to contain excessive investment in steel, cement and electrolytic aluminum projects began to pay off through curbing supplies of land.

The central government will also continue its policy of moderately limiting land supply for real estate projects.

The minister also called on local governments to continue their efforts to rectify land market order with priority given to land development projects launched since last year.

Making efficient use of land resources is essential to easing the current pressure on land supplies, he said.

A survey of 1,510 institutions specializing in land purchasing for industrial development said by the end of last year, they had 113,000 ha of land for release, while the combined amount of land purchased by developers but not yet fully used totaled 46,600 ha.

Beginning last year, China launched a nationwide campaign to curb irregular and excessive requisition of land for industrial development projects to protect its dwindling land resources and the legitimate interests of farmers.

It has uncovered 130,000 cases of excessive and illegal use of land, involving 55,900 ha of land, including 28,400 ha of farmland.

Tian Fengshan, Sun's predecessor, was sacked amid the government's high-profile campaign to regulate the country's land market, and most localities that illegally delegated the power of approving land deals to subordinate government departments have taken back such rights.

Several million Chinese farmers were victims of the illegal land development projects.

The ministry said farmers were owed at least 9.88 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion) in land requisition compensation and relocation fees. Investigators found irregularities might have cost the government 20.7 billion yuan (2.5 billion US dollars) during the past several years.

The minister said last month that nationwide investigations found that of the 9.88 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion), 5.99billion yuan (US$730 million) had been paid to farmers thanks to government intervention launched since last year.

About 12.8 billion yuan (US$1.56 billion) of the 20.7 billion yuan (US$2.5 billion) in land transfer fees have been recovered by local governments.

Tens of thousands of farmers lost their farmland for very little compensation to industrial and commercial development projects.

China had reduced its planned development zones by 17,000 sq km from 35,400 sq km, and 1,100 sq km of farmland has been re-cultivated.

Of the country's several thousands of development zones and industrial parks, only 1,251 were approved by the State Council and provincial governments, according to statistics released by the ministry.

Meanwhile, the ministry and local government departments in charge of the sector will improve the way the land use rights are transferred by increasing transparency and competition.

The proportion of land plots auctioned will be increased to 33 percent, from the current 15 percent, in an effort to curb illegal trading in land-use rights.

(Xinhua News Agency May 15, 2004)