China has vowed to restrict the amount of arable land used for non-agricultural purposes to ensure there was enough feed the growing population, state media said Monday.
The government said it will improve management over land use in coming years to balance development and the need to preserve arable land, the China Daily said.
The ministry of land and resources would tighten control on land resources to avoid waste and would require people pay for the resources they use, the report said.
Tian Fengshan, minister of land and resources, said China suffers from a serious resource insufficiency and has to import some badly needed minerals such as oil and copper.
Many local governments, departments and individuals are squandering the resources, Tian said.
He said the ministry must set strict controls on land use, must develop land reserves and devise comprehensive rules to ensure proper payments, he said.
From 1997 to 2000, China saw about 167,500 hectares of land taken over for non-agricultural use each year on average, exceeding an annual quota of 127,300 hectares of agricultural land to be used for other purposes.
The outlook for mineral resources is also not rosy, Tian said.
Of China's 45 major mineral resources, only 24, based on known reserves, can sustain production until 2010 and only six will last until 2020, the report said.
Tian said China has no choice but to cut down on inefficiency and stress technical innovations to preserve the land.
Only a small percentage of the land in China is arable, and a majority of the population is concentrated in those areas -- BEIJING (AFP)
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