Chinese Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan has called on land inspectors to implement the land management system effectively in checking local land use.

The inspectors must be strict, diligent, self-disciplined and familiar with local situations and the central land policies, said Zeng at a meeting with officials of the country's land inspection agency here Thursday.

China approved the establishment of a national land inspection body in July to supervise the land use and management by local governments, which often give green lights to illegal investment projects despite central macro-control policies.

Zeng urged land inspectors to "crack the hard nuts" bravely when performing their duties.

It remains an arduous job for China to fulfill its goal to keep at least 120 million hectares of arable land by 2010, said Zeng.

China has about 122.1 million hectares of arable land now, 13 percent of its land area.

From January to November, the government found 77,400 cases of illegal land use, 13.6 percent up year on year, with the area of land involved surging 78.2 percent to 59,600 hectares, according to the Ministry of Land and Resources.

(Xinhua News Agency December 25, 2006)