The Ministry of Land and Resources prevented the loss of 1.64 billion yuan (about 205 million U.S. dollars) by uncovering 35,000 cases of illegal land use in 2006.

The ministry said that 90,340 cases were settled last year, involving about 70,000 hectares of land, including 43,000 hectares of agricultural land, and 3,593 persons were disciplined, including two provincial-level cadres.

The government took back 11,500 hectares of land after the cases were settled. But it was unable to resolve 40,737 cases by the end of the year, involving a further 30,000 hectares of land. The total number of illegal land use cases was up 17.3 percent on the previous year.

Lax enforcement of land policies and loose examination of illegal land use were major issues raised by deputies at the just-concluded annual session of the 10th National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislative body.

Source: Xinhua