Clampdown on illegal occupation of farmland

Clampdown on illegal occupation of farmland

A strict clampdown on activities that encroach on arable land is needed to protect the foundation of the country's food production, a notice published by the General Office of the State Council said on Sept 15.

In recent years, China has put in place a series of policies and measures to protect arable land, but it is still being occupied illegally in some places, the notice said.

To feed the 1.4 billion people in China, governments at all levels should strengthen supervision and take effective measures to protect the country's arable land, it added.

Illegal occupation of arable land for afforestation, landscaping and nonagricultural purposes should be strictly prohibited, it said, and ongoing illegal occupation should stop immediately.

Occupation of arable land without authorization in the name of river, wetland and lake improvement is also prohibited.

Governments should crack down on the illegal occupation of arable land and other illegal land use such as building wide green belts and expanding nature reserves at the expense of arable land, the notice said.

Land use for construction projects that fail to meet planning requirements and land management laws, regulations or national industrial policies will not be approved.

The State Council required governments at all levels to organize complete inspections of the protection of arable land under their jurisdiction, investigate and penalize illegal occupation and demand timely corrections.

Access to services to span provinces

China will take measures that help provide interprovincial access to high-demand government services that are key to the growth of businesses and people's daily lives, an executive meeting of the State Council decided on Thursday.

Some 58 service items, including market entity registration, pension scheme portability, verification of professional certificates and notarization of diplomas and driver's licenses, will be made accessible across provinces by the end of this year, according to a statement released after the meeting, which was presided over by Premier Li Keqiang.

Another 74 service items, including industrial production licensing, filing of records on the settlement of medical bills, social security card applications and household registration relocations, will be made available across provinces by the end of next year.

Online access will be optimized to make interprovincial services more convenient and user-friendly. Meanwhile, the needs of a smaller number of people still requiring on-site access to such government services will be fully met, the meeting said.

China Daily - Xinhua