A COLLECTIVELY owned residential complex located in Guangming New Area was sealed off Wednesday by the new area’s authorities over apartments being sold illegally, the Daily Sunshine reported Thursday.

    Yujing Garden, which has seven residential buildings, was constructed by Shiwei Village without approval from the government. The construction, completed in late 2014, was funded by a company collectively owned by villagers.

    The Gongming Subdistrict Office investigated the illegal apartment sales after a Daily report Tuesday.

    The office confirmed there were sales employees selling apartments through unofficial channels. Sales people handing out posters in the streets were given penalties by the office. All seven buildings were sealed up, with water and electricity being shut off.

    The office had looked into and tried to halt construction of the estate after its groundbreaking in 2013 by cutting the electricity and water supply, filling up its foundation and seizing concrete trucks at the construction site.

    But law enforcement was violently opposed by villagers and construction workers several times, the office said.

    The head of the office’s law enforcement division said all involved illegal buildings would be sealed off and the office would step up patrolling and supervision.

    The office has halted the construction of illegal buildings across Gongming Subdistrict since July last year, and over 41,460 square meters of illegal buildings have been dismantled since December last year, with 483 concrete mixer trucks being seized and 22 mixing plants being given penalties.

    Song Ding, director of the tourism and property research center of the China Development Institute, said illegal construction in Shenzhen covered 428 million square meters as of 2015, making up 43 percent of building space in the city.

    “Shenzhen is facing a land shortage, but many illegal buildings are occupying the land and hindering urban reconstruction,” Song said.

    Song said the city’s crackdown on illegal buildings was being slowed by the huge number of illegal buildings, with many buildings rented or sold.

    (Zhang Yang)