The Ministry of Natural Resources has been taking strict measures to protect arable land, according to its minister.

Wang Guanghua said during the two sessions on Sunday that to keep arable land from decreasing, the ministry will work on restoring lost arable land in some southern provinces through a system of incentives and punishments.

According to the latest national land survey, China lost 7.5 million hectares of arable land between 2009 and 2019.

Occupation of cultivated land for construction or agricultural restructuring must be controlled, Wang said.

The move will help relieve the need to divert northern grain to the south, he said, adding that the ministry encourages the use of underground space to improve grain input and output per unit area.

Arable land in China is mainly used to grow grain and cotton, oil, sugar and vegetables.

Other agricultural uses for land include planting trees and fruits, and developing aquaculture.

Since last year, the ministry has had its provincial authorities conduct random inspections on the handling of farmland occupation cases reported by local governments, and uncovered problems that had not been resolved.

It publicized dozens of cases of encroachment on arable land to warn companies and individuals against illegal construction.

The illegal use of arable land revealed included the building of temporary sheds, houses, hoggeries, recycling stations, canteens, manufacturing facilities and ancestral halls.

As a result of related efforts in recent years, the shrinking of arable land has been reversed, with a net increase in cultivated land for the last two years, Wang said.

The national land survey showed that at the end of 2019, arable land accounted for 127.8 million hectares, fulfilling the national goal of retaining at least 120 million hectares of arable land to guarantee national food security.

The ministry will also focus on promoting the establishment of new national parks in areas such as the Yellow River Estuary and the Qinling Mountains.

It will also continue to protect and restore coastlines and coastal zones, focusing on major problems like degradation and the invasion of alien species, he said.