Yunhe Lake Xiangong Scenic Area in Yunhe county, Lishui [Photo/lishui.gov.cn]

The natural resources and planning bureau of Yunhe county in Lishui, East China's Zhejiang province, signed a contract to assign the right to use State-owned construction land with Yunbei Development and Investment Co Ltd on July 27.

The contract marks the first sale in China of a piece of "ecological land" evaluated by "economic output value + ecological environment appreciation".

The "ecological land", which covers 493.6 square meters, is on Xianniu Island in Yunhe Lake Xiangong Scenic Area. After 31 rounds of bidding, the sale amount was 1.28 million yuan ($182,767), with a premium rate of 137 percent.

Unlike previous land transfers, the land parcel gained 97,500 yuan for ecological environment appreciation, which will be used for ecological construction work on the block.

"What we are looking at is the ecological value of this land, and we are fully confident about its development," said Yang Weihu, general manager of Yunbei Development and Investment Co Ltd, at the signing ceremony. "By paying for the added value of the ecological environment, we hope to encourage more social forces to participate in the work of protecting the ecological environment."

The land will be used to develop accommodation, catering and other facilities, which will further promote the development of local eco-tourism.