Shanghai's district and county leaders will be held primarily responsible if any land under their governance is illegally used, Mayor Han Zheng said yesterday.

Project leaders will also be punished, Han said in a municipal government conference on the protection of farm land and tightening of land control.

"It will be added as a main evaluation item for government officials. They must stick strictly to the rules on land use," Han said.

Farmers who have moved to make way for city's development should get reasonable compensation and jobs, Han said.

In China, land is sometimes acquired from farmers for a small amount of compensation and provincial governments can grab the lion's share of the profits even if they sell it to foreign investors at an undervalued price.

Shanghai will further optimize its system on land bids and auctions, as well as regulating the government's income associated with land sales, Han said.

The central government set up a land supervision office in Shanghai last month to keep an eye on land deals in the city following a corruption scandal involving real-estate and many top officials in the city.

The Shanghai Land Supervision Office, which will also have jurisdiction over land deals in the provinces of Zhejiang and Fujian, is one of nine regional land supervision offices set up by the Ministry of Land and Resources.

The offices will be staffed by officials sent directly from the central government that will monitor land transactions at the local level, the ministry said.

The offices will also monitor local authorities to ensure they abide by the central government's policies on land use and macroeconomic controls.

(Shanghai Daily December 12, 2006)