Land development deadline set for Aug 31

Small and medium size property development companies must take measures to develop land they purchased or risk having it seized. Beijing set August 31 as the deadline for taking action. The Ministry of Land and Resources announced the deadline in March as part of its campaign to rid the property development industry of corruption, standardize management practices and increase respect for the rule of law. The ministry began the campaign in 2002, ordering all land to be sold through public auction and banning local governments from selling directly to developers. Analysts said that the deadline could result in new alliances between resource-poor smaller developers and rich large developers before the end of the month.