East China's Zhejiang province is pushing forward with a series of moves to improve the management of land resources.

The province is working in collaboration with the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), who recently approved a work program which states that it will support Zhejiang to manage its land better in a bid to improve its ecological environment and propel the province's rural vitalization.

Zhejiang has a large population in a relatively small area of land, making for a large population density. As the economy is developing rapidly and robustly in the province, the contradiction between the need for social development and the shortage of land resources becomes increasingly apparent. Therefore, it is being seen as increasingly important by authorities to crackdown on inappropriate land management in rural areas.

The MNR is also pledging in the program to offer guidance for Zhejiang's policy making and general practices.

The program highlights that Zhejiang should stick firmly to the concept that "clear waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" and offers suggestions that pilot zones should be launched initially to test out any policy in a small area before they are widely rolled out.

It takes a wide range of land-related issues into consideration, including promoting agricultural and ecological remediation.

According to the program, Zhejiang will work to optimize the layout of land space and allocate land for ecology, agriculture and building construction in a fair and reasonable way.

Meanwhile, to facilitate the implementation of the measures, proposals for supporting practices such as streamlining administrative procedures are also included in the work program.