China shuts down 66 golf courses

China has shutdown 66 illegally built golf courses in different provinces including capital Beijing for occupying lot of land besides excessive consumption of water for maintenance.
The Ministry of Land and Resources (MLR) said the closed golf courses were found in many provinces, with three of them in Beijing.
The MLR did not specify a time frame during which these facilities were closed, but multiple ministries jointly issued a notice in July last year, asking for a crackdown on illegally built golf courses.
It, however, praised local governments for carrying out the orders.
Apart from issues including illegal land occupation, golf courses are widely criticised for massive water consumption and environmental damage due to broad use of pesticides and other chemicals, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

China had less than 200 golf courses in 2004. In the same year, the government announced a halt to new golf projects.
However, the number of courses has nevertheless increased to more than 600 over the past decade because local governments viewed them as powerful tourist draws and conducive to urbanisation.