The Ministry of Land and Resources (MLR) is to introduce a
nationwide land regulatory system a move expected to safeguard
arable land and curb overheated investments in fixed assets.
A total of nine regional bureaux directly answering to the MRL
central office will begin work shortly, according to sources.
The bureaux will be located in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang,
Nanjing, Jinan, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Chengdu and Xi'an.
The Shanghai and Beijing bureaux have already been set up, the
rest are in various stages of being organized.
Each bureau will be responsible for land use within its
jurisdiction. For example, the Beijing bureau covers the capital
city, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous
Region.
Li Yuan, deputy minister of the MLR, said yesterday inspectors
will oversee land protection in the provinces or municipalities,
ensuring that local policies and measures conform with national
laws and regulations.
If a case of illegal land use is uncovered, the inspectors must
immediately inform the local government concerned, and report to
the central authorities if the problem is not rectified.
The amount of farmland designated for new construction projects
next year will remain the same as this year, Li said.
In fact, the amount of land for construction projects during the
first 11 months of this year is only half compared with the same
period last year.
By imposing tough controls on farmland use, Li stressed that
developers should make efficient re-use of the present occupied
land.
Prior to these two moves, the ministry last month ordered the
doubling of the land-use fee for new construction projects next
year.
Last week, it also ordered a ban on the construction of large
commercial and entertainment facilities, small industrial projects
and residential buildings with low density, from using arable land
next year.
"The country will continue to implement the strictest land
policy in the world," Li said.
He said that the 1.8 billion mu (120 million hectares) of arable
land should be the bottom line to ensure food security for the
country.
China's arable land has been reduced from 1.95 billion mu (130
million hectares) in 1996 to 1.83 billion mu (122 million hectares)
this year; and per capita arable land is 1.41 mu (0.09 hectare),
only one-third of the global average, according to MLR figures.
Rampant illegal land acquisition and use is widespread in the
country, often with the connivance of local officials.
This has resulted in 40 million farmers losing their land in the
last 10 years and further 15 million farmers are expected to lose
their land in the next five years, the nation's social security
authority said.
While strengthening efforts to curb the loss of farmland, the
central government has also mapped out policies to provide farmers
with compensation, re-employment training and other social security
guarantees.
According to Li, about 100 billion yuan (US$12.5 billion) of
land acquisition fees will be allocated to countryside development
next year.
(China Daily December 22, 2006)