The average land price in major cities of China during the first quarter of this year was 1,212 yuan (146.4 US dollars) per square meter, according to the report issued Monday by the Ministry of Land and Resources.

According to the report, the price level is 1.21 percent higher than that at the end of last quarter and down 0.18 percent from the same period last year.

The average price of land for commercial, residential and industrial use is 2,006 yuan (242.3 US dollars), 1,184 yuan (143 US dollars) and 482 yuan (58.2 US dollars) per square meter. This is an increase of 0.91 percent, 1.58 percent and 0.19 percent from the end of the fourth quarter of last year, but a decrease of 0.53 percent, 0.93 percent and 0.03 percent from the same period last year.

Classifying by regions, the report said that the average land price of North China, Northeast China, Southeast China, Central-South China, Southwest China and Northwest China is 1,309 yuan (158.1 US dollars), 1,066 yuan (128.7 US dollars), 1,645 yuan (198.7 US dollars), 1,171 yuan (141.4 US dollars), 1,239 yuan (149.6 US dollars) and 780 yuan (94.2 US dollars) per square meter respectively, 0.71 percent, 1.01 percent, 1.49 percent, 0.83 percent, 2.64 percent and 0.38 percent higher respectively than that at the end of last quarter and all but Southwest China saw a slower increase over the same period of last year.

The average land price of the Yangtze River Delta in East China is 2,019 yuan (243.8 US dollars) per square meter, 2.37 percent higher than last quarter.

In the Pearl River Delta in South China and in Beijing and Tianjin region in North China, the price is 1,425 yuan (172.1 US dollars) and 2,019 yuan (243.8 US dollars) per square meter. This represents an increase rate of 0.93 percent and 0.50 percent from the end of last quarter.

All the three major regions of China saw land prices increase at a higher rate than the same period last year.

In big cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, the capital of East China's Zhejiang Province and Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province, all witnessed soaring price of commercial residential buildings in 2004. This is a different varying trend in their land price in the first quarter of 2005.

The growth rate of land prices from last quarter in Shanghai and Guangzhou is 5.20 percent and 1.55 percent, while that of Beijing and Hangzhou grew within one percent.

Compared with the same period of last year, Shanghai and Guangzhou saw their land price grow at 3.22 percent and 1.11 percent respectively, with Beijing almost no change and Hangzhou down 3.07 percent.