The Pingtan authorities intensified their crackdown on illegal buildings at the start of 2014 and they said on Feb 11 that they identified fewer cases of illegal structures in the county during the Spring Festival compared to last year.

Officials said that they found six illegal buildings - a year on year drop of 72.7 percent - covering a total area of 136 square meters – a drop of 89.6 percent - between Jan 30 and Feb 8.

Figures show that the authorities discovered 22 illegal buildings occupying 1,309 sq meters during last year's Spring Festival holidays. And 21 unlicensed structures covering 4,168 sq meters were reported in 2012.

Two of this year's six additional illegal buildings are in the urban district. The other four are located in the townships of Liushui, Su'ao and Pingyuan. Officials said that they had either demolished or upgraded the buildings in the urban district and Liushui.

The crackdown will be further strengthened in future to uproot the illegal structures, the government vowed.

Edited by Chen Zhilin and Niva Whyman