BEIJING - A third party would be introduced to assess and improve the government's land-use inspection practices in 2011, a senior official with the country's land inspection authority said Tuesday.

Gan Zangchun, deputy director of the Ministry of Land and Resources (MLR), made the remarks at a press conference concerning the country's 2010 land inspection work.

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"We will identify problems and make improvements through a third party assessment. Also, we will post an evaluative report for public viewing at a proper time," Gan said.

He said the ministry has explored new inspection methods, including routine inspections, special project inspections and online reporting, and will avoid overlapping its duties with those of local governments.

China recovered 18.63 billion yuan ($2.85 billion) from illegal land-use practices in 2010, he said. The government recovered these funds during routine inspections in 77 major cities.

The inspections included reviews and verifications of 10,800 land-use approval cases at the provincial level and field inspections of 3,801 land-use cases for construction projects last year, the official added.