Golf course developers are illicitly and greedily snatching land across China for what local governments euphemistically call "image projects."

Statistics published in People's Daily indicate that there are 176 golf courses in 26 provincial regions, but only one has been approved by the central government.

The number, seen as conservative by the newspaper, does not take into account those courses still under construction or plans for which are under scrutiny by local governments.

According to figures from a golf website, only several remote inland provincial regions have no golf courses. They are Qinghai, Gansu, Shanxi, Ningxia and Tibet.

"To my knowledge, only one golf course was ever approved by the State Council. Our ministry has never received any golf course land applications," said an official of the Ministry of Land and Resources, the only state department with the power to allow the non-agricultural use of a land area over 70 hectares, or 1,000 mu.     

Golf experts said a standard 18-hole golf course covers about 1,200 mu (80 hectares).

Few local governments have followed the application procedure or the rules.

Local government insiders said that even township governments and village committees had licensed golf courses, seriously violating laws and operating far beyond their remits.

But as a rule, local governments always call golf courses "image projects" by claiming they are necessary for a good investment environment. So approval is always available.

It's very common for development zones to use a golf course as a backdrop on their websites.

"A golf course is a sign of good investment environment, and many foreign investors see it that way," said an official on the condition of anonymity. "What matters is that we have a course, regardless of whether or not we profit from it."

People's Daily reported that 80 percent of the golf courses across the country run at a loss. One course manager even told the paper no golf course is breaking even.

Beijing, the capital which is suffering a serious water shortage, has 24 golf courses and the economically prosperous southern Guangdong Province 54.

A 1996 survey by the Ministry of Agriculture showed China's land per capita was less than half of the world average. The figure in 12 provincial regions was more than two mu (0.13 hectare) and in 7 regions less than one mu (0.06 hectare). In some regions, including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong, the total amount of arable land is decreasing sharply.

The China Golf Association recommends building courses on unused hills, land and sloping fields, a rule seemingly never observed by local governments. In some areas, arable land and even ancient villages are flattened for golf.

In the autumn of last year, about 4,600 mu, or 306 hectares, of arable land was requisitioned by force by the Mashan district government of Jimo city, eastern Shandong Province, which compensated farmers with a mere 400 yuan (US$48) per mu, far below market prices.

Rampant approval of golf courses has sharply undermined the ministry's authority and function in planning the use and control of the country's land as a whole.

Although many substantial efforts have been taken to curb the excessive and wasteful use of arable land since 2003, the problem remains serious.

(Xinhua News Agency March 7, 2004)