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For the future of arable land

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-18 07:59

We should stop wasting land and start controling the land used for urban and rural construction, says an article in Xinhua News Agency. The following is an excerpt:

The national land use guideline (2006-20) was passed at the executive meeting of the State Council last week. The guideline highlights the control of the amount of land used for urban and rural construction. It points to one of the most important issues in China's current land use.

Due to the weakness in control, China's urban construction has nibbled into more and more arable land. Meanwhile, the average amount of land for construction for each person in China's rural areas is far above the international average level. The scattered villages in both the southern and the northern parts of China lead to a great waste of land.

The importance of reining in the land earmarked for urban and rural development can also been seen against the backdrop of China's growing population and the tight situation of food supply.

We should see that it does not affect the development of rural and urban areas if we ban waste in the use of this type of land; on the contrary, it will ensure a more efficient development mode for rural and urban construction. Moreover, various development zones and industrial parks have low efficiency in land use, which also means great potential of such land being reused.

As long as we can stick to the urbanization target of China and actively start the reform of land use, we can not only realize the harmonious development of both rural and urban areas, but also guarantee the goal of arable land reserve of our country can be reached.

(China Daily 08/18/2008 page11)