The Chinese government on Thursday announced new measures to strengthen land management and stop excessive use of land for construction and industrial projects.

The State Council decided at an executive meeting held Tuesday that compensation for farmers whose land is compulsorily acquired be raised to levels that allow them to maintain their living standards and to guarantee their long-term rights and the management of revenues from state-owned land-use rights be better regulated, according to a statement from the meeting presided over by Premier Wen Jiabao.

Previously held by local land departments, land transfer revenues would become part of the local government budget, said the statement.

Charges for land use rights and taxation on the use of land are to be raised, and the government will also set up a standard for minimum pricing of industrial land use rights and make the standard public.

The central government will hold chief officials of local governments responsible for land management and protection of farmland within their jurisdictions, the statement said.

The central government will also strengthen law enforcement pertaining to land management, and enhance supervision over local governments and land administration departments. Violations of land administration laws and regulations will be severely prosecuted and made known to the public.

The State Council said that the measures are taken to stop excessive use of land for construction and industrial projects, check violations of laws and regulations in land requisitions, and ban illegal requisition of farmland.

Other issues discussed at the meeting on Tuesday included an energy consumption reduction plan for the second half of the year and the employment target for the 2006 to 2010 period.

The government has vowed to create 45 million new jobs during this period and keep the urban registered unemployment rate under five percent.

(Xinhua News Agency July 28, 2006)