More than three million farmers who lost their land to industrial development or urbanization have been covered under social security systems in China.

An official with the Ministry of Land and Resources said at a symposium on building a harmonious socialist society that local governments have raised their compensation standards for land requisition since 2004 in line with their local economic development status.

So far more than ten provinces, including Jiangsu and Zhejiang, have established social security system for the farmers who lost their farmland.

Experts predicted that more farmers whose land were requisitioned will obtain social security in future.

Some local governments have made regulations to crack down on those who infringed upon farmer's benefits during the process of land requisition, and have taken new measures for the resettlement of the farmers, such as providing employment training and small loans with favorable interest rates.

"The proper settlement of the land-requisitioned farmers is important for building a harmonious socialist society," the official said.

Official figures show that more than 40 million farmers had their farmlands partially or wholly used for other purposes.

Recently, China is introducing the "most stringent" farmland management policies, strictly prohibited farmlands to be occupied for urbanization. Therefore there should be less farmers losing land in future.

(Xinhua News Agency November 18, 2006)