(7) Environmental rights

The country's environmental quality was improved, and environmental rights and interests of the public were ensured. China's National Plan for Coping with Climate Change was implemented. By the end of 2010, the ratio of energy consumption per GDP unit, the amount of chemical oxygen demand and the emission of sulfur dioxide had met or exceeded the targets set in the Action Plan. The days with good air quality in major cities made up 91.5 percent per year on average, and 95.6 percent of the major cities had more than 292 days with good air quality in a year. In 2009 and 2010, more than 5.08 million law-enforcement personnel were dispatched to make over 2.04 million examinations of enterprises. Special examinations were made of paper-making enterprises and enterprises which discharge heavy metal residue. Environmental safety checkups were conducted on chemical and petrochemical enterprises located by rivers, particularly those close to sources of drinking water, to eliminate potential threats to the environment. By the end of 2010, some 80 percent of environmental departments at city (district) level and 70 percent of environmental departments at county level had joined the "12369" environmental protection hotline, while 30 percent of environmental departments above county level had set up centers for receiving environment-related complaints and petitions. In 2009, the state revised the Law on Renewable Energy Resources. By the end of 2010, China ranked first in the world in terms of the newly-installed capacity of hydropower and wind power, output of solar photovoltaic batteries and coverage of solar heating.

The Outline of the Plan for National Forest Land Protection and Utilization was implemented. At present, the forest area in China is 2.932 billion mu (about 195,466,666 hectares), and the forest coverage has grown from 13.92 percent in the early 1990s to the present 20.36 percent. The preserved area of planted forests reaches 926 million mu (about 61,733,333 hectares), ranking first in the world. By the end of 2010, the state had fulfilled or over-fulfilled the targets set in the Action Plan regarding forest coverage, grassland improvement, treatment of degraded, sand-encroached and alkaline grasslands, effective utilization of irrigation water, protection of typical forest ecological systems and wild animals and plants under state protection, protection of natural wetlands, and comprehensive treatment of soil erosion.

(8) Safeguarding farmers' rights and interests

Farmers' land right has been ensured. The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress issued and implemented the Law on the Mediation and Arbitration of Rural Land Contracting Disputes, and the Ministry of Agriculture and other relevant departments formulated related rules and documents, notably the Rules on the Arbitration of Rural Land Contracting Disputes, and Model Bylaws for Rural Land Contracting Arbitration Commissions. By the end of 2010, a total of 18 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government had worked out measures for distributing and using the compensation funds of requisitioned land within rural collectives. Altogether, 229 million rural families had contracted farmland from collectives by way of household contract; land-use rights transfer had covered 187 million mu (about 12,466,666 hectares), making up 14.7 percent of the total farmland under household contract management. Nationwide 1,405 rural land contract arbitration commissions were set up, among which 1,369 were at county level, covering 47.9 percent of counties or county-level cities. Overall reform of tenure in collective forests was carried out throughout the country. By the end of 2010, a total of 18 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government had basically fulfilled the task of clarifying forest rights and contracting out to households. Tenure of 2.431 billion mu (about 162,066,666 hectares) of forests had been determined in the course of the reform, and 72.6 million certificates of forest right were issued, bringing direct benefits to 300 million farmers.

Farmers' usufructuary right to their homesteads has been protected. The basic distribution system of "one homestead per family" has been implemented, while the measures for the management of farmers' homesteads were constantly improved. The examination and approval procedures for homesteads were standardized, and the work of homestead registration and certificate issuance was strengthened.

The land requisition system was reformed, and the legitimate rights and interests of farmers whose land had been requisitioned were protected. The Measures on Public Announcement of Land Requisition and the Provisions on the Hearings in Respect of Land and Resources have been carried out, and thus before the authorities report the compensation standards and relocation plans about the land to be requisitioned to the upper level for approval, any party concerned will receive a written notice stating that he/she has the right to a hearing. The procedure of land requisition has been improved. In accordance with the requirement of "relocation first and demolition later," the government ensures that the compensation for and relocation of farmers are done properly. Local governments have publicized the uniform standards for land requisition and the comprehensive land prices of the areas to be requisitioned, and raised the compensation level by 20 percent to 30 percent, and even over 100 percent in some places. A dynamic mechanism for adjusting compensation standards has been established, under which the compensation standards for land requisition will be adjusted every two or three years. A social security system for farmers whose land has been requisitioned has been established; the governments of 29 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government have issued measures to include farmers whose land has been requisitioned in the social security system, enabling them to enjoy basic living or old-age insurance. More methods have been adopted for the relocation of farmers, including relocation to other areas of agricultural production and relocation of farmers to other places, so that farmers whose land has been requisitioned can be provided with basic production conditions and source of income.

The state has made the increase of farmers' income and improvement of people's wellbeing a central task for agriculture and rural work. In 2009 and 2010 the per capita net annual income of rural residents reached 5,153 and 5,919 yuan, respectively, increases of 8.5 percent and 10.9 percent in real terms after adjusting for inflation. The increase of the per capita net annual income of farmers in real terms exceeded 6 percent for seven successive years. The state granted grain growers direct subsidies and general subsidies for purchasing agricultural supplies, expanded the scope of subsidies for purchasing superior seeds, and granted more subsidies for purchasing agricultural machinery. In 2009 and 2010 the total of the four subsidies was 127.45 billion yuan and 122.59 billion yuan, respectively.

Health care services for farmers have been improved. The coverage of the new rural cooperative medical care system has been constantly expanded, with the number of participants accounting for over 90 percent of rural residents. More money was raised for this, with an average of 155.3 yuan from each participant. Out-patient expenses were paid out of the medical insurance fund in over 60 percent of all the areas throughout the country. In 2010 the proportion of hospitalization expenses paid out of the medical insurance fund in accordance with relevant policies grew by five percentage points, with the maximum amount for rural participants paid out of the medical insurance fund increasing to six times the per capita annual net income of farmers. In 2009 and 2010, the state solved the problem of safe drinking water for 122 million rural residents.

The rights and interests of rural migrant workers have been further protected. In 2009 and 2010, the relevant departments provided vocational training courses for over ten million rural migrant workers and training courses about starting businesses for 130,000 rural laborers. The state gradually put in place a system ensuring payment for rural migrant workers, and increased the minimum wage by a big margin. By the end of 2010 some 30 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government had adjusted the minimum wage, and the minimum monthly wage increased by 22.8 percent on average. A supervision system has been set up in 26 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government to ensure the prompt payment of wages to workers. All the 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government in China have established the wage deposit system in the field of construction.