Only one of 20 Beijing golf courses legal, says official

BEIJING - Only one of the about 20 golf courses in Beijing has been developed legally, a member of the law committee in China's parliament said.

Amid concerns about grabs of prime farming land, China's government put a moratorium on the development of new golf courses in 2004 and reinforced the ban last year.

However, the China Golf Association (CGA) puts the number of courses on the mainland at about 500, mainly clustered around the major cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.