China to Guarantee Cultivated Land No Less than 1.92bn Mu

China will make efforts in coming five years to achieve a balance between occupancy and supplement of farmland to secure a national cultivated land of no less than 1.92bn mu (15 mu = one hectare), said Tian Fengshan, minister of Land and Resources.

To this end, related departments will tighten control over land use and intensify examination and approval of farmland to be diverted to other purposes, and plan the use and management of land according to law; they will conscientiously implement the basic farmland protection system and will strictly control the use of basic farmland for the construction of various types of projects; they will legally institute the system of compensation for the cultivated land used for construction purpose; persist in connecting the use of land for construction projects with the projects of development and improvement, and introduce a project assessment system regarding a balance between the occupancy and replenishment of cultivated land, guaranteeing implementation of the responsibility, fund and plan regarding supplemented arable land. A farmland reserve system will also be introduced to gradually ensure that supplement precedes occupation of cultivated land.

China will strengthen management of farmland and prevent the destruction of cultivated land; it will press ahead with improvement of land, intensify reclamation efforts and appropriately exploit the reserve resources of cultivated land. Meanwhile, it will pursue the policy of tapping the potential of land for construction purpose and vigorously promote the intensive use of land.

Strengthening management of land property is an important measure for intensified protection of cultivated land under the condition of the market economy. The Ministry demands that land investigation work be done in the next five years to further clarify the land ownership of the rural collective, and that license-issuing work be completed which regards the right to use land for construction projects.



By PD Online staff member Li Heng


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