Farmers whose land is compulsorily acquired are to receive
better compensation from the Chinese government. The new system
drawn up by the Ministry of Land and Resources (MLR) will be
strictly enforced, said a senior official with the organization on
Sunday.
The new method of examination to assess the levels of
compensation due for the loss of farmland came into affect on
August 1.
Average per capita farmland has fallen to 1.4 mu but
the government plans to retain at least 1.8 billion mu
(120 million hectares) by the end of 2010. They've been maintaining
productivity by compensating those whose land has been acquired for
construction.
The system requires those utilizing farmland for construction to
pay a compensation fee, a farmland reclamation fee, land use charge
or other recompense.?
Enterprises or institutions responsible for such
payments?should clarify their compensation plans?through
a specific project. The project, when completed,
should?satisfy the designed requirements.
According to the MLR, farmers reclaimed roughly the same amount
of farmland as was acquired from them last year but much of it was
of poor quality compared to what they'd lost.?
For example 67 percent of farmland taken away for construction
last year was equipped with irrigation systems but only 35 percent
of reclaimed land has such facilities.
(Xinhua News Agency September 4, 2006)