Guangzhou to increase land supplies: mayor

The capital city of Guangdong province will increase land supplies this year with most of the revenue being used to repay debts, the Guangzhou mayor said.

"The money raised from land sales will also be used to further improve the city's infrastructure facilities," Chen Jianhua told reporters at a news conference over the weekend.

The southern metropolis has owed heavy debts after it hosted the 16th Asian Games in November 2010. Most of the money Guangzhou borrowed was invested to help curb pollution and construct infrastructure projects, he said.

"Guangzhou plans to offer 6.66 square kilometers of land for property development this year, and the figure was 6.49 square kilometers last year," Chen said.

Last year, Guangzhou earned as much as 83.8 billion yuan ($13.75 billion) from land sales. That figure represented about one-third of the city's total financial revenue.