China counts golf courts for better regulation

BEIJING, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- How many golf courts are there in China? The Chinese government is asking local governments to report their number of golf courts in a bid to design policies for developing golf industry while protecting farmland, according to a report on the 21st Century Business Herald Tuesday.

The real number of golf courts might influence the government's decision on whether to limit or just regulate golf court construction, Han Baolie, director of the Golf Education and Research Center at Beijing Forestry University, was quoted as saying.

Although the government had suspended new golf court construction since 2004, over 400 new courts were built over the past five years under the guise of "village clubs", the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said.

"A golf court usually occupies 60-70 ha of land, about half of the 500 courts were built on wasteland, but some of them did break into farmland, " Han said.

Vice Secretary-General of China Golf Association Wang Yanmei said that the inspection and limitation on golf were aimed at protecting farmland. Golf courts on wasteland, however, should be allowed as golf had become an Olympic event, she said.

"Investors and local governments do not pay attention to farmland when projecting court construction, this is where the trouble lies," she said.

"To develop golf industry, government should legislate as to where to build new golf courts, rather than simply forbid the construction of any new court," Han said.

Seven ministries and commissions of the government, including the NDRC, the Ministry of Land and Resources and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, would participate in the inspection, the report said.