Illegal occupation of farmland will be clamped down with no tolerance, said the head of the Enforcement Department of the Chinese Ministry of Natural Resources on Tuesday.

The ministry briefed about 35 cases of illegal occupation of the arable lands in 16 provinces during a press conference. The areas of the encroached farmland in those cases are from 0.006 hectares to 0.21 hectares. All the illegal constructions were now torn down.

According to Cui Ying, head of the ministry's Enforcement Department, even though the encroached farmlands were very small in most cases, it shows China's attitude towards the illegal occupations.

The State Council announced a campaign to investigate the illegal occupation of farmlands on July 3 this year. On September 15, a notice was issued, saying that the move was to protect the foundation of the country's food production.

The notice also clarified the illegal usage of the farmland, such as afforestation, landscaping, and non-agricultural constructions, were all strictly prohibited. Occupation of arable land in the name of a river, lake, and wetland improvement was also forbidden.

The agricultural foundation has been repeatedly stressed for China, a country with a 1.4 billion population. This year, a series of measures have also been adopted in order to secure agricultural production with the pandemic containment requirements in place.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the grain output is expected to exceed 650 million tons for the sixth year in a row, hitting historical records.