Change is good

Some observers feel the changes are important. Hao Jinmin, a professor at China Agricultural University who trained officials about land use regulations, said using villages land is meant to help officials better utilize resources.

"Villagers used to live sparsely, which is in effect a waste of land. Merging villages could enable wasted land to be used to its maximum," Hao said.

Many rural residents will go to work in cities as migrant workers. However, being a migrant worker is not sustainable in the long term and local governments have to help them get a job near their hometown, Hao said.

However, both Yin and Zhou said they are worried that their homes would be demolished even though local authorities promised that they would be moved into newly constructed apartments. The villagers are reluctant to move because they believe that the apartments are poorly made and smaller than their current homes.

If they move into a new apartment, they would essentially be giving up their right to use their old home and land.

"After moving to the apartment, we will suffer due to a higher cost of living. We have to pay for many things, such as using the garage. Without a sound welfare system to support us, farmers who have lost their farmland would have problems making a living in the long term," a villager surnamed Xu from Tuqiang community in Zhucheng, told the Global Times.

In 2008, the Ministry of Land and Resources also said local authorities, after pooling hundreds of villages into a fewer larger ones, could use the remaining land. It said the land under the farmers' homes could be used for development.

Chen Xiwen, director of the office of the government central rural work leading group, told Beijing News that the regulation was well-intentioned and meant to help villages do better planning.

Farmers to benefit

Chen said farmers are supposed to be the beneficiaries of all the new developments.

However, in Yin's village, villagers complained that both their farmland and homes were seized, and authorities made no attempt to increase the amount of arable land.

"All the land taken from us were used to build apartments and villas to be sold. We have not got anything back," Yin said.

A similar situation is developing in other provinces. For example, tall apartment buildings are being constructed in several villages in Hebei Province. Some villagers in Funing county said their new apartments are of the poorest quality, with cracks on the walks and no elevators, Beijing News reported.

One possible solution is to build factories or launch other projects near their homes, Hao, the professor, said.