Asia Times Online :: China Business News - Beijing rules out privatizing rural land

China Business

Feb 1, 2007

Beijing rules out privatizing rural land

BEIJING - China has no intention of privatizing land and cannot do so, said Chen Xiwen, director of the central government's rural work office, at a press conference this week.

Chen said China's land ownership principles are enshrined in its constitution. "This is not a policy issue that can be decided by the central government or by central government departments," he said.

China's rural land is collectively owned and allocated to farmers in plots on 30-year leases. Farmers are not allowed to sell the land

or use it as collateral for loans. Currently, some Chinese provinces, such as Guangdong in the south, have started trial sales of rights to use rural land.

Chen said that rural land traded on the market must have construction authorization and must not be farmland.

Leasing land from farmers for construction purposes is now illegal, according to a notice issued by the government last September to tighten land supply. According to the notice, requisitions of farmland for construction purposes must be in line with local land-use projects and should be included in the annual land-use plan.

Chen affirmed that China will continue its land-utilization reforms to control illegal sales of farmland and protect farmers' interests.

The issue of rural land rights is a thorny problem for China. Without secure land rights, more and more Chinese farmers have been evicted from their land to make way for roads, factories and residential areas as China's economy sizzles.

Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao warned early last year that illegal seizures of land without compensation and resettlement are a key source of instability in rural areas. "This kind of thing sparks mass incidents in the countryside," said Wen. "We must absolutely avoid committing an historic error over land problems."

The central leadership has taken some positive steps in this regard. According to the notice issued last year, the use of farmland for construction purposes will no longer be approved by the State Council for each project, but should be reported to provincial governments and submitted to the council for approval on an annual basis.

The new rules put the responsibility for land permits on provincial governments, said Chen. That means that if local land use exceeds the quota, local governments will have to shoulder the responsibility.

China's reform of land utilization should reflect Chinese conditions and be managed step by step, said Chen.

(Asia Pulse/XIC)

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