A woman takes a walk with her baby at Xiangjiang Park in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Sept. 25, 2018. Xiangjiang Park, renovated from a golf course, has been opened to the public for free since Tuesday. (Xinhua)
BEIJING, July 16 (Xinhua) -- China's efforts to ban the development of new golf courses have paid off, the country's top economic planner said Tuesday.
China shut down a total of 127 golf courses from 2011 to 2018, according to a statement on the website of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
The NDRC and other central government departments continued their crackdown on illegal golf courses last year and banned 14 golf projects in Shanxi, Jilin, Fujian, Shandong, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Hainan, Sichuan, Yunnan and Shaanxi provinces.
The government will adopt a "zero tolerance" approach in banning new golf courses, and step up supervision through satellite monitoring, routine inspections and media supervision, the statement said.
China launched a crackdown on golf in an effort to conserve water and land in 2011. The construction and maintenance of golf courses is particularly resource intensive, and many Chinese cities face water and land shortages and skyrocketing housing prices.
