China's Ministry of Land and Resources has announced a 30-percent cut in the minimum purchase price of land for industrial use in order to boost investment.

However, the statement on the ministry website Wednesday failed to say when the cut would take effect.

The move would "further implement the government's policy of boosting domestic demand and push forward steady and rapid economic development," said the statement.

The new rule will apply to investments that make intense use of land and those involving the processing of agricultural, forestry, animal husbandry and aquatic products.

The ministry set minimum prices for industrial land use in January 2007 to curb the selling of cheap land-use rights for industrial use to attract investment and seek a higher GDP growth. The price ranged from 60 yuan (8.77 U.S. dollars) per square meter in some counties in northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to 840 yuan per square meter in the suburbs of Shanghai, China's largest metropolis.

Wang Xiaoying, researcher of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told Xinhua Thursday, industrial investment had contracted because of the economic slowdown, which dragged down the demand for industrial land.

The national average industrial land price was 721 yuan per square meter in the first quarter, down 1.08 percent from the fourth quarter of last year, and down 1.1 percent year on year, according to the ministry.

Zou Xiaoyun, deputy chief engineer of the China Land Surveying and Planning, said the new rule would help reduce cost for enterprises, and stimulate them to expand investment, especially for new projects.

(Xinhua News Agency May 14, 2009)