BEIJING, March 14 (Xinhuanet) -- China will severely punish corrupt officials who abuse power in the approval of the use of land for construction and the rights of mining, the country's top land official has said.

    "The ministry will step up supervision in the sector to prevent corruption," pledged Sun Wensheng, minister of Land and Natural Resources, at the ministry's national conference on anti-corruption.

    Complaints about corruption in the land and mining sector have increased in recent years, which mainly focused on the illegal approval of using farmland for construction and the rights of mining mineral resources at very low price or even free of charge.

    Early last year, the government launched a campaign to rectify the country's land market, which has substantially checked the rampant abuse of power in the sector and return much land to farmers.

    "But the achievements of the campaign scored so fare are not fully satisfactory," Sun said, pointing to the fact that the impetus of expanding land use and damaging natural resources was still strong.

    Sun said that his ministry will cooperate with law enforcing government departments to crack down on corruption in the sector and set up an open, fair and stable market for land and the rights of mining.

    The minister asked localities to compile and make public plansfor approving land use and the rights of mining and exploration, which should include the total amount and timetable.

    "The system of public bidding for the rights of land use and mining should be further improved to make the market more transparent," Sun said. Enditem