( Newsvine )) Chinese officials said Monday that a crackdown on illegally transferring householders' land to property developers was accelerating, with more than 3,000 officials punished for such actions last year.
All Chinese property is technically state-owned, but land use titles effectively offer their holders a form of ownership. Corrupt local officials often help developers illegally confiscate land from individuals or families and transfer the titles.
In recent years, such transactions have brought soaring profits in China's sizzling economy.
Enforcement of penalties had been haphazard in past years, and officials above the village level are rarely even investigated, said Zhang Xinbao , director of the Law Enforcement and Supervision Bureau under the Ministry of Land and Natural Resources.
"In the past few years, the enforcement of laws on land use have gradually been strengthened and expanded," Zhang told reporters at a news conference.
He said that over the last six years, 8,698 officials have been penalized by the Communist Party over illegal land title transfers, while 1,221 others have been punished by the legal system - a harsher form of censure. Zhang did not say how many officials had been imprisoned.
However, he said 2006 alone accounted for 3,094 party punishments and 501 criminal punishments, illustrating how the government is expanding the crackdown.
Illegal land transfers have frequently triggered protests by residents, who are often thrown out of their homes with little or no compensation.
Householders have few legal rights to contest such seizures, but China has tried to strengthen residents' legal recourse.
The land involved in illegal transfers is often used for industrial, residential or commercial space, with local officials growing rich off of bribes, shares in businesses or other unauthorized compensation.
Chinese officials also have sounded the alarm over the unregulated loss of farmland, saying it threatens the country's food security as fields are paved over for roads, housing communities and power plants.