Premier Wen Jiabao urged local governments and departments
concerned to tighten land management and implement the decision of
the State Council on in-depth reform concerning the strict land
management in Beijing Thursday.
Wen made the remarks in Beijing at a teleconference on strict land
management of the State Council, chaired by Chinese Vice-Premier
Zeng Peiyan.
Since the second half of last year, the central government adopted
a series of measures on strict land management aiming to strengthen
macro-economic control and protect arable land, Wen said.
The local governments and departments concerned have made
achievements in implementing the decision of the central government
and curbing misuse of land, he said.
The practice has proved the decision is necessary to protect arable
land and safeguard grain security, he said, stressing that the
decision is crucial to promotion of a steady and rapid economic
development as it has effectively curbed blind investment and
duplicated construction.
However, land management should be further tightened since the
achievements scored in land management is still at the primary
stage and misuse of land has not been eradicated, he said.
To tighten land management is vital to grain security and
sustainable economic and social development," he stressed.
Wen underscored that the government at various levels should spare
no effort to protect the existing arable land especially the
farmland from shrinking.
The government should improve the implementation of the relevant
laws, regulations and supervision, and those violated land use laws
should be strictly punished," he said.
He stressed effective efforts should be made to protect the
farmers' rights for land use and to guarantee that those farmers
who lose their land should be compensated.
Meanwhile, intensive land use should be advocated to prevent
existing land being left unused, he said.
Wen stressed the governments at various levels should fulfill their
obligations of land management, adding "whether arable land is well
protected or not is a yardstick to evaluate the performance of
local governments and their officials."
(Xinhua News Agency October 29, 2004)