Compensation for farmers pushed off their land should increase
by the end of the year, a development expected to ease conflicts
between rural communities and developers.
According to an announcement by the Ministry
of Land and Resources made public on Friday, local governments
are required to speed up the establishment of systems used to work
out land values when requisitioning farmers' land.
"The move is an attempt to solve the lingering problems of
farmers whose land was always inadequately or randomly compensated
in the past," said a ministry official who preferred not to be
identified.
As the economic development level of different regions is
uneven, the systems for establishing land acquisition payments
should vary across the country, said the official.
The types and quality of arable land, farmers' input, as well
the prices of primary products are to be taken into account when
deciding the value of average annual output, said the announcement.
The compensation sum should also give consideration to the local
economic situation, people's living standards and other social
security demands, it said.
In calculating the comprehensive prices of farmland, the
categories and rates of arable land, its production value, as well
as demand and supply should be given full consideration, according
to the document.
"As soon as the standards have been publicized, they must be
strictly implemented," said the official.
The planned adjustment of compensation standards is a vast
improvement, said Liu Shouying, a researcher with the Development
Research Center under the State Council, adding that the government
should set a basic level of payment.
"The nation should set up a minimum standard of compensation in
order to guarantee the basic interests of the farmers," he
suggested.
Compensation for farmland requisitioned by the state for major
construction projects should also be increased, Liu suggested.
By the end of last year, at least 40 million farmers had lost
land to real estate development, industrial zones and other uses,
according to a Xinhua report.
The current compensation standards, based on a guideline issued
by the Ministry of Land and Resources last November, promised to
pay farmers at most 30 times the worth of the average annual output
of the arable land over the previous three years, experts said.
Complaints, even bloody conflicts, have been frequently reported
after farmers were inadequately compensated or lacked subsistence
after their land was taken from them.
(China Daily August 13, 2005)