Reform land system to protect farmers' rights

At a special meeting held by the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference on Sept 2, Zhu Zhixin, vice-minister of the National Development and Reform Commission, pointed out five outstanding problems in the country's overall planning for urban and rural economic and social development. These problems include farmers' land rights not being effectively protected, their land being sometimes expropriated at lower compensations or with delayed compensations, and disputes over land requisition becoming frequent.

We should have a systematic probe into the reasons why there have been so many violations of farmers' land rights and interests in some regions in recent years. Such violations are happening although the central government has repeatedly issued regulations to protect farmers' land interests and vowed to adopt strict land management policies.

The current land ownership practiced in rural areas is much similar to the joint ownership defined in the Property Law which took effect on Oct 1 last year. Under this kind of joint ownership, farmers' land belongs to the collective of their village and any withdrawal from this arrangement would mean their relinquishment of their property rights.