The ministry also asked to stop house-building along residential and commercial roadsides, which has become common in some regions.

The circular said that to save land, the traditional living patterns of farmers - usually one family per house - should be replaced with apartment buildings.

The ministry also made it clear that the amount of land used for building small cities should be included in the county or township government's overall development programme.

Building small cities was one way to improve local farmers' lives, but county or township governments should not take up more arable land for the purpose.

Building plans must meet the requirements of the local economic and social development programme, and must be approved by th e authorities concerned, the circular said.

No land would be free within the development of small cities, except that to be allocated by the government for specific infrastructure purposes.

For fairness, any subsequent land transfers should be done through public bidding, which in turn should be thoroughly audited, the ministry said.

Less developed areas could start with smaller pieces of land to gain experience, it said.

Because smaller cities are quicker and cheaper to develop than larger ones, China will concentrate on their growth in its vast countryside for the 10th Five-Year (2001-05) Plan.

However, the ministry warned that because development is carried out by local governments themselves, it gets out of control in some regions with poor planning.

(China Daily 12/21/2000)