China's land regulators urged local land authorities late Sunday to take concrete measures against excessive growth in the country's land prices in some Chinese cities and crack down on illegal behavior, such as land hoarding, to ensure the implementation of the government's cooling measures on the property market.

The Ministry of Land and Resources (MLR) said in a statement on its web site that the recently seen high prices in land sales in some Chinese cities had raised social concerns, which local land authorities should pay considerable attention to, and take actions to curb the rapid growth in land prices.

According to the MLR, cities and counties that had not provided more than 70 percent of the total land supply this year to shantytown renovation, the construction of affordable homes and medium-priced commercial housing, should not provide land for high-end housing for the rest of this year.

Further, for land sales with over 50 percent premium rate or record high prices, local governments should report to provincial land authorities and the MLR within two working days after the deal is closed.

The procedures of supplying land should also be strictly conducted, and there should never be any change in the use of land that is for the construction of affordable housing, said the statement.

(Xinhua News Agency December 20, 2010)