BEIJING, Dec 7: China will raise taxes on the industrial use of farmland from the beginning of 2008 and extend the levies to foreign companies in a bid to curb illegal land grabs, state media said on Friday.

The new rules, taking effect from January 1 next year, increase the highest tax rate to 50 yuan ($6.7) per square metre from 10 yuan per square metre, the China Securities Journal reported.

Foreign firms and their joint ventures will no longer be exempt from the tax and will pay the same rate as domestic companies, it said.

The government will also begin to collect taxes on arable land used for railway and airport construction, which are currently exempt. The move is aimed at reining in seizures of farmland, the report said, one of the major factors behind rising social unrest throughout the country..— AFP