China’s 1st golf course faces uncertain destiny  

(ECNS) -- The operation license of China's first golf club in Shenzhen will expire next February, but local authorities have yet to reveal any definite plans, China Radio International reported on Monday.

The operator of the Shenzhen Golf Club is still in the dark about whether they will be permitted to stay in business after the license expires, or what the land might be used for.

The club was established in 1985, and the golf course has gradually become surrounded by skyscrapers with the city's expansion, said Zheng Xueding, a senior accountant and deputy to the city's people's congress.

Dubbed the city's "last oasis," the club covers 1.36 million square meters of green area in the city center, but is not open to average citizens.

Membership at the club is said to be very expensive, and some employees there say they don't even have access to its privileges.

Meanwhile, local citizens have long opposed the club, since they have to take buses to get to the nearest public leisure areas.

Last year, Zheng suggested to the city government that the land could be converted into a park. "The Shenzhen Planning and Land Resources Committee agreed to my proposal, and said a portion of the land will be saved for commercial use," he said.

The committee said it is "still under discussion."

Han Liebao, who works at Beijing Forestry University, said the large parcel of land should be preserved, regardless of what happens to the golf club.

The number of golf clubs has grown in China, despite a government ban on new courses imposed in 2004.

Chinese authorities have torn down five illegal golf courses, part of government efforts to get tough on unauthorized construction and protect farmland, according to a CCTV report last month.