SHANGHAI: A Zhejiang official was punished for his role in approving a massive project to build a replica of Yuangmingyuan, or the Old Summer Palace, the Shanghai Bureau of State Land Supervision said yesterday.

Ren Liping, director of the Dongyang reform and development bureau in Zhejiang, was censured by the authorities for violating related State regulations on land use, it said.

The move was part of China's land resources authority's bid to ensure enough arable land supply, at a time land supply and demand did not match, said Zhang Xianyu, director of the general office at the Shanghai Bureau of State Land Supervision.