China has canceled 2,720 development zones of various kinds, in a bid to curb illegal land use and protect cultivated land, which has caused a drastic shrinking of farmland in recent years.

The trend of rampant occupation of farmland by local governments in the name of development zones or real estate projects has been curbed, said Sun Wensheng, minister of land and resources, at a national conference here Saturday of directors of provincial departments of land and resources.

His ministry plans to reclaim 2.57 million mu (one hectare equals 15 mu) from these so-called development zones, where most of the land has been left unattended.

Meanwhile, the ministry and local departments in charge of the issue will reform the methods of land use. The proportion of land plots to be auctioned for land-use rights will be increased to 33 percent, from the current 15 percent, in an effort to curb illegal trading in land-use rights.

So far, governments at different levels have dealt with 168,000 land-use-right disputes, and punished a number of people held responsible for wrongdoing.

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