The Ministry of Land and Resources said on Tuesday that its nationwide land checks found that, in some cities, over 60 per cent of the commercial land acquisitions since September 2004 had been unlawful.

The amount of land acquired without proper government approval even reached 90 per cent of the land developed in some cases, according to the ministry.

Its survey in 15 cities last year shows that the situation was similar from October 2003 to September 2004, with 52.8 per cent of such land acquisitions being unauthorized.

Such widespread illegal land use is stunning. It means that local officials have plainly ignored the central authorities' instructions on land use.

If this uncontrollable land acquisition goes unchecked, it will deal a fatal blow to our ambition of pursuing sustainable development.

It stokes excessive investment, which is a cause of China's red-hot economy. Official statistics show that the fixed asset investment rose 29.6 per cent year-on-year in the first four months of 2006, a pace that seems garish against the backdrop of nationwide macroeconomic regulation.

Moreover, much of the land illegally acquired by developers is for the purpose of real estate development and urban construction. As a result, cities have improved infrastructure and become better places to live in. In addition, local governments profit handsomely from land sales.

Revenues from land transfers amount to as much as 60 per cent of the non-budgetary income of many local governments, which also see a large bulk of their budgetary income coming indirectly from land deals and real estate transactions.

The nation as a whole, however, may lose part of its precious farmland.

Meanwhile, the banking sector is taken hostage. It will suffer greatly if borrowers fail to repay their loans for ill-planned projects.

And many farmers have become losers since they are inadequately compensated in many cases.

Such zero-sum deals may lead to social instability and further widen the rural-urban gap.

The ministry has demanded its provincial branches investigate at least three illegal cases in June and at least eight by the end of the year.

But since local officials have a strong vested interests in encouraging land transfers and they have a strong influence on local land regulators, the prospects remain unclear whether the ministry's order will be seriously abided by this time.