Chinese law enforcement officers are struggling to stem the tide of illegal land acquisitions, a government official says.

Zhang Xinbao, director of law enforcement supervision under the Ministry of Land and Resources, said Saturday that more than one million cases of illegal land use had been reported since new land laws took effect in 1999.

The cases involved five million mu (330,000 hectares), one million mu more than the total area of new construction in 2004, said Zhang.

"The phenomenon is even more serious in local governments, and all of the worst cases involved local officials," he said.

Those involved were getting better at concealing illegal land acquisitions from the authorities.

Zhang urged national land resources authorities to tighten monitoring of land use, especially in cases involving farmland.

Those suspected of illegal acquisitions and damaging the interests of farmers would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, he said.

Source: Xinhua