Information on over 200 real estate appraisal institutions and over 21,000 land appraisers can now be found in an online information system, as a move to clear away under-the-table practices in land transactions, according to the Ministry of Land and Resources (MLR).

The information system, which was built by the ministry and the China Real Estate Valuer Association, went into operation earlier this month, providing detailed information on over 200 land evaluation institutions that have a national operational capacity out of the 1,700 total in the country and over 21,000 land appraisers.

According to the MLR, information such as the latest developments of the land evaluation sector and details about institutions and appraisers including their work records and land evaluation projects can be retrieved and the public can file online complaints about illegal practices of these institutions and valuers.

The land evaluation sector has been a major social concern in recent years along with the country's economic boom and scandals of illegal land transactions in the burgeoning real estate industry have frequented the media reports.

"The system marks that China's land evaluation has begun to be conducted fully in the sunlight," said the MLR in a statement.

The system has, said the MLR, also facilitated the government departments concerned in carrying out random surveys of the performance of land evaluation institutions and helped such institutions and

land valuers apply for governmental approval for their evaluation reports.

Source: Xinhua