City Shenzhen in southern China has retracted 27 pieces of idling land, totaling 870,000 square meters, after having investigated some 738 cases of such land plots that were approved for construction projects.

The is the second publicly reported land retraction case in China following Beijing's similar touch move taken last week against some irresponsible land developers who had kept their lands idled throughout the designated period for housing development.

According to statistics made pubic by Shenzhen's bureau of state land resources and housing on Sunday, the 738 cases of land plots they had investigated by June 15 this year cover a total area of over 20 square kilometers, of which 72 percent obtained their land development licenses before 2002.

The China Business News reports that following this latest retraction, Shenzhen will at the same time impose fee charges on land plots that are intentionally left idling by developers and order them to start construction in a definite time frame. And in some cases the time limit may be extended to allow developers to finish relevant procedures.

Shenzhen unveiled its plan on dealing with idling land in May this year against the backdrop of rising housing prices.

Lu Ruifeng, vice mayor of Shenzhen, recently said the city now still faces arduous task in uncovering and dealing with idling land plots given that Shenzhen is very much constrained by land resources. The city will further strengthen its efforts towards this end and work to establish a long-term prevention mechanism.

Meanwhile, in Guangzhou, the capital city of Guangdong Province, warnings have also been issued to three land-developers, ordering them to start construction in two months or their land plots will be retracted. The three developers have had 84,000 square meters of land at busy downtown areas idled for seven years, which are considered the longest idling case in the country.

Also in Beijing, the government for the first time in years suspended eight residential and commercial land plots from transactions. They will be re-incorporated into the city's future land development plans and reserves.

(CRIENGLISH.com November 27, 2007)