Major results were achieved in land and resources survey. Great progress was made in fundamental geological investigation, with the geological service field constantly expanded and reinforced. The 1:250,000 regional geological survey in the blank areas of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau was fully completed. In the period 1999-2005,110 quadrangles of 1:250,000 regional geological survey were plotted for the blank areas, covering 1.52 million km2 ; a full coverage of China’s terrestrial territory by medium-scale geological survey was accomplished; a lot of valuable new data of petrology, tectonics, stratigraphy, and paleontology, etc. of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau were obtained; a batch of new concepts concerning frontier scientific issues were achieved; and more than 10 important, considerably large minerogenic belts of iron, copper, and boron, etc. were discovered. In 2005, the MLR completed 110,000 km2 of 1:250,000 regional geological survey, 419,000 km2 of amendment survey, 278,000 km2  of 1:1,000,000 regional gravity survey, 34,000 km2 of 1:200,000 regional gravity survey, 11,000 km2 of 1:200,000 regional geochemical survey, and 26,200 km2 of 1:50,000 aerial remote-sensing survey. In respect to marine geological investigation, it completed 3,776 km of multi-channel seismic survey, 2,076 km of gravity survey and 5,528 km of multi-beam survey. The Ministry also carried out a multi-target geochemical investigation, which played an important part in promoting agricultural restructuring, agro-productive efficiency increase and farmers’ income growth. The first agricultural geological investigation project— Agro-geological Investigation in Zhejiang Province— was comprehensively implemented, resulting in the survey of a total area of 43,600 km2 which constituted 86.5% of the province’s farmland, the collection of 66,000 samples and the acquisition of 1.26 million firsthand data. The basic conditions of quality of the agricultural land in ZhejiangProvincewere ascertained. The comprehensive remote-sensing survey of land and resources carried out at the provincial level was fully completed, and that covering China’s terrestrial territory was accomplished in an all-round way. Consequently, substantial results were scored in the aspects of land resources, mineral resources, water resources, tourism resources, forest resources, geological hazards, geological structures and regional stability, and ecological environment; and a management and service system of provincial-level comprehensive remote-sensing survey of land and resources was established. These provided basic and accurate data for the planning of national and regional economy and society, the management of land and resources and the sustainable development of society.

New advances were made in marine geological investigation. The gas hydrate survey in China’s sea areas was further promoted, expanding the country’s prospective areas of gas hydrate resources, delineating most promising key target areas on the continental shelf of the northern South China Seaand locating the first batch of well sites for drilling.

Major achievements were obtained in the exploration of solid mineral resources. In the porphyry copper enrichment belt of Xianggelila County, YunnanProvince, 35 ore deposits or occurrences were discovered; the regional prospective resources were expected to exceed 5.00 million tons; and the exploration and development of the Pulang copper deposit and its peripheral copper deposits or occurrences would greatly accelerate the regional socio-economic development. The funds for ore exploration and development introduced into the Pulang copper deposit alone reached 1.5 billion   yuan（～US$187.5 million）. Significant progress was made in the exploration of the Qulong copper deposit in Maizhokunggar County, Tibet, leading to the control of more than 1 million tons of copper resource. And its periphery has a great potential for ore prospecting. The copper resource of the Dobzha copper deposit in Tibetwas estimated at 2 million tons, making it a potential superlarge deposit, and the Saijial and Tiegelong ore districts at its periphery were promising for porphyry copper exploration. In the tin field in HunanProvincemore than 30 tin veins were discovered and its predicted prospective resource of tin was 0.50 million tons and that of tungsten, over 0.30 million tons. In the stratabound Pb-Zn deposit in western Hubei, more than130 occurrences were found, and its predicted Pb-Zn resource exceeded 5.00 million tons. In the Baiganhu W-Sn deposit in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, 3 W-Sn segments were demarcated and 29 ore veins were controlled by engineering, with the estimated tungsten resource being over 300,000 tons.

Investigation and evaluation of groundwater resources were carried out effectively. Remarkable efficiency was achieved in groundwater exploration in China’s western areas where water was in grave shortage. Breakthrough successes were scored in groundwater exploration in the OrdosBasin. A total of 143 prospective water sources for centralized water supply were delineated throughout the basin, thus ensuring water resources supply for the construction of local energy and chemical-industry bases and the protection of local ecological environment. Marked social efficiency was gained through demonstration of water exploration in red beds in SichuanProvince, and over 335,000 small-diameter water wells were drilled and constructed in 35 counties or towns, making it possible for 1.17 million farmers of the water-scarce red-bed areas to have clean water to drink. These efforts had led to the solution of the thorny problem of acute drinking water shortage faced by humans and domestic animals and having lasted for nearly half a century, and therefore made a contribution to the construction of new socialist countryside.

Significant progress was made in the respect of public service of geological investigation data. Chinapublished for the first time the data of 1:200,000 geochemical prospecting. In 2005, the Chinese Geological Survey disclosed the service information on the first batch of data of geological investigation results, including 25,000 sorts of geological data of open results, 8 sorts of geological data of database results, and 60,000 sorts of geological data of confidential results. In November 2005, the Survey disclosed the service information of the second batch of data of geological investigation results, of which the 1:200,000 geochemical data not shared by the public in previous years were offered for public use, giving important information to mining investors for selecting ore exploration targets, and winning universal commendation.

New results were obtained in the monitoring of urban land prices and market. According to regular and selected-point monitoring in China’s 51 key cities, the general price per square meter of land in major cities in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th quarters was 1,212, 1,225, 1,233 and 1,251 yuan （～151, 153, 154 and 156 US dollars）, respectively, representing an increase of 1.21%, 0.92%, 0.67% and 1.42%.  Compared with the corresponding period of the previous year, the prices of general   land, commercial land, residential land, and industrial land of urban areas grew by 4.44%, 3.70%, 5.67% and 2.37%, respectively. The dynamic monitoring of land market was further extended to cover more than 1,000 counties, cities and prefectures. The publication of information was promoted steadily. A total of 21,066 public notices about land supply, as well as 40,999 pieces of information of land transaction, were published.

The level of dynamic remote-sensing monitoring of land use was further enhanced. The MLR accomplished the evaluation of the dynamic remote-sensing monitoring of land use conducted in the 10th Five-Year Plan period; worked out a program for the 11th Five-Year Plan period; in coordination with law enforcement and inspection officials, carried out the monitoring of land-use change in 8 cities; and using the method of comparison between corresponding periods, conducted remote-sensing monitoring of newly added construction land in 10 districts of Beijing and Hangzhou. It fulfilled the task of monitoring in cities with a population of more than 0.5 million, with the total monitored land of 106,200 km2 , which was distributed in 285  districts or counties under 55 cities; established the National Rapid Inquiry and Browsing System of Dynamic Remote-sensing Monitoring of Land Use; set up the Database of Control Points of Remote-sensing Imagery for Cities with a Population of over 0.5 Million; and compiled and published the Atlas of Dynamic Remote-sensing Monitoring of Land Use in China’s Cities with a Population over 0.5 Million.