We implemented the State Council’s requirements for continuously suspending the examination and approval of the transfer of land from agricultural to nonagricultural purposes, suspending amendments of any plans related to restructuring protection areas of primary farmland and suspending change of a county into a city and amendment of the overall planning for land use in villages and towns; stopped supplying land for projects regarding production of iron and steel, cement and electrolytic aluminium and construction of golf courses and high-grade villas that neither followed China’s industrial policies nor met market admittance standards; actively examined and approved land required for key infrastructures of energy, transport and communications, water conservancy and urban construction and key projects in urgent need for education, health and national defence; and basically established a system of quarterly report on dynamic land market monitoring throughout the country.

The rectification of the land market was further conducted in all respects. 4,813 development zones were reduced, accounting for 70% of the total; the land shrank by 249 hectares, accounting for 65% of the total planned area of development zones; and 261,700 hectares of land were returned to farmers for cultivation. Through examination and verification 5 ministries or commissions under the State Council jointly declared and resumed supply of land for 52 state-level economic and technological development zones, and examined and verified, through planning, 43 state-level export processing zones, bonded zones and cross-border industrial zones. The MLR worked together with other relevant ministries or commissions to straighten out 81,962 newly established land-use projects, which covered 792,600 hectares of land; dealt with 7,184 projects that illegally appropriated land, which covered 36,500 hectares of land. Punishing measures such as stopping going through any formalities for land use, stopping follow-up land supply, stopping issuing any land use certificate, withdrawing land, etc. were taken in respect to 7,077 projects that had been stopped, suspended and ordered to be consolidated within a prescribed time limit and whose filing was canceled. A total of 12.329 billion yuan (~US$ 1.490 billion) of unpaid compensation for newly added land used for construction were cleared up, and 3.7 billion yuan (~ US$ 447.022 million) were confiscated into the government treasury. 17.546 billioin yuan (~US$ 2.120 billion) of overdue payment owed to farmers as compensation for their expropriated land after 1999 were cleared up.

85,078 illegal land appropriation cases were placed on file for investigation and prosecution, 83,806 cases were settled with 1.912 billion yuan (~US$ 231.002 million) of penalty collected and 6,352.56 hectares of land confiscated. 977 persons were punished by administrative disciplines, and 65 people were investigated and prosecuted for their criminal liabilities.