When planning transport projects, for example, we must ensure they are integrated and that land is not wasted due to overlapping, he said.

The government is unlikely to alter the 120 million bottom line for arable land before 2020, even though more accurate figures will be available on completion of the ongoing second national land use survey (2007-09), Hu said.

The survey is expected to paint a much-changed picture of China's landscape since the first survey was done in 1996.

"Unless there is a biological revolution (that boosts per-hectare grain yields), we will adhere to the bottom line to ensure people are fed," Hu said.

Also, as a result of a series of measures and crackdowns by the central government, local government officials, once driven solely by profit, are more wary of the need to protect their arable land banks, he said.

A nationwide investigation launched in September led to the arrest of about 2,700 local officials who either failed to seek permission from higher authorities before developing land or ignored the rules on the expansion of development zones, he said.

The government has implemented a slew of measures to prevent arable land being lost to urbanization, Hu said.

In January, it issued a circular stating that any development project that is slated to occupy farmland must first be granted approval before it can proceed.

"(Without approval) No water, power or gas shall be provided to these projects, and no financial institutions shall be permitted to offer them loans," the circular said.

(China Daily April 17, 2008)