E China province to evaluate companies based on land use

HANGZHOU - East China's Zhejiang province has rolled out a reform to evaluate a company's performance based on the size of its land-holdings in a bid to better use resources.

By 2020, industrial enterprises and large companies in the service sector will be evaluated based on taxes paid and industrial value added per "mu," or one-fifteenth of a hectare, according to a plan by the provincial government.

Per-unit energy consumption, per-unit emissions, and R&D expenses will also be among the evaluation parameters, said the plan released earlier this month.

The government will offer differentiated prices for land, power, water and gas to companies based on their evaluation results, to encourage them to get the top rating in the evaluation, according to the plan.

The reform is expected to generate more economic growth with limited land and energy resources in the province.

With a land area of 100,000 square kilometers, Zhejiang is one of the smallest provinces in China, but ranks fourth in gross domestic product, which exceeded 5 trillion yuan (783 billion US dollars) last year.