Four new cases of suspected illegal land use will be probed following recent investigations into five other land scandals, said an official of the Ministry of Land and Resources (MLR) Sunday.

Harsh measures will be used to handle the four cases, which occurred during the Chinese government's crackdown on land fraud, said Zhang Xinbao, director of the MLR's Law Enforcement and Supervision Bureau.

The four cases were in the northeastern city of Dalian, southeastern city of Xiamen, northeastern city of Shenyang and eastern city of Nanjing.

The Dalian-Dandong expressway in Liaoning Province was found to have used large tracts of land without obtaining government permission. Moreover, the local government was suspected of withholding over 28 million yuan (US$3.4 million) of compensation for farmers whose land had been taken away.

The Jimei district government in Xiamen of Fujian Province was accused of selling 12,654 square meters of land in the downtown area at a fixed price of 19 million yuan (US$2.3 million), though public bidding put the land price at 27.8 million yuan (US$3.3 million).

A medical university and physical education institute in Liaoning Province's Shenyang City would be investigated for charges of occupying over 450 hectares of land without legal approval, most of which is farmland.

The Nanjing steel corporation in Jiangsu Province was found to have occupied over 300 hectares of land without government permission to build a steel mill in January.

The ministry is now studying punishments after concluding five major investigations into the illegal land use, said Zhang.

(Xinhua News Agency December 21, 2003)