Facts:

Since last year, the MOS and MLR have carried out a nationwide campaign to investigate violations of land laws and regulations.

Local authorities have investigated 22,395 cases, involving 32,872 hectares of land.

Some 927 people received Party disciplinary punishments, and 561 others got administrative disciplinary penalties. Some 879 people faced judicial proceedings, and 168 received criminal penalties.

Typical cases:

From 2004 to 2006, 75 hectares of collectively owned land were occupied unlawfully by the developer Jiulongshan Holiday Resort in Pinghu, Zhejiang Province, and another 75 hectares were illegally used by the Jiulongshan Development Company to build a golf course.

In October 2001, the Huayi Group in Luoyang, Henan Province, took a lease on 35 hectares of collectively owned land to build an ecological botanical garden which was later revealed to be a golf course.

In December 2003, the Shandong Jining Canal Power Generation Co Ltd rented more than 28 hectares of collectively owned arable land to construct power plants.

(China Daily 07/13/2007 page4)