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Expanding land rights

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-10-21 07:48

Land for a farmer is as important as a job for an urban resident, if not more.

That explains why any central government policy on land use has been of historical significance to the country's development.

Just as Deng Xiaoping, the chief architect of China's reforms, did 30 years ago to initiate them that led to the contracting of collective land to individual farmers, the current central leadership has started another round of reform of rural land use.

Farmers are allowed to lease or transfer their land use rights. Actually, many farmers transferred their land use rights years ago when they could not afford the time and labor to farm their contracted land.

Yet the new policy is not just a confirmation of such sporadic practices. Rather it is a step to promote a transition of the fragmented and extensive farming mode to modern and intensive agricultural development.

The policy strictly stipulates that the nature of collective ownership should never be changed in the transfer or leasing of use rights. It also says that the land must never be transferred or leased for non-agricultural purposes and the right and interest of farmers involved must never be infringed upon in the process.

The policy is meant to encourage rural villagers to make full use of their land use rights and further promote agricultural development. But it also makes it clear that arable land should not be misused.

Nevertheless, the reasonable mechanism for the transfer of land use rights in rural areas will benefit both rural villagers and the country's agriculture.

Concentration of arable land in the hands of those farmers who have the capability to manage a large farm will certainly raise the mechanization level and help intensive farming. This will undoubtedly raise the level of agricultural development in the country at large.

With a relatively active market for land right transfers, villagers who transfer or lease their land use rights undoubtedly hope to get handsome incomes from such deals.

However, these are only possible prospects for the development of the transfer mechanism for land use rights. Detailed policies should be formulated to encourage capable and willing villagers to accept the transferred land use rights for large-scale agricultural production, while balance and check mechanism should be established to guarantee the rights and livelihoods of the rural people who decide to work away from their land.

A piece of arable land is where the basic interest and right of rural villagers lie. Villagers can never afford to lose their land use rights. This new policy just makes sure they have more room to maneuver with such rights.

Arable land as a whole is where the country's food security lies. There is no reason to allow transfer of land use rights for non-agricultural purposes. So the freedom to transfer land use rights should never be misinterpreted as permission for rural land transfer for real estate development.

(China Daily 10/21/2008 page8)