China's first local regulation specifically on strictly controlling industrial land lot use will start operation on June 1 in Zhuhai, officials announced during a May 10 press conference held by the Standing Committee of the Zhuhai Municipal People's Congress.

Wang Yongxia, deputy director of the legal work committee of the Standing Committee of the Zhuhai Municipal People's Congress, noted that the regulation will address problems in the preparation and operation of industrial land lots, such as low efficiency of land output and an imperfect exit mechanism of industrial land, which have posed limitations on the city's industrial development.

Press conference [Photo courtesy WeChat account: zhuhairenda]

Current land lots that have been used for industrial purposes, with the exception of villages' collective reserved land lots, and future land allotted for industrial use, will all be managed under the new regulation.

Urban renewal projects within the industrial land control line are specified, while industrial land lots are strictly prohibited from being turned into commercial or residential areas, which will eliminate land hoarding for transforming their use. This will help stabilize the total scale of Zhuhai's industrial land and support the development of its real economy. 

In addition to implementation of the innovative regulation, Zhuhai will add 50 sq km (12,355 acres) in industrial land lots in the next five years, as well as build, renovate, and upgrade 20 million sq m (4,942 acres) in new standard factories over two years to ensure industrial land lot usage.