Natural resources officials from across China gathered in Beijing on Wednesday to share local practices in managing State-owned natural resource assets, highlighting efforts to turn existing resources into new sources of value and translate clearly defined property rights into tangible ecological and economic benefits.
China had 523.6 million hectares of State-owned land at the end of last year, including 19.99 million hectares of cultivated land and 18.85 million hectares of construction land, according to a special report delivered by the Ministry of Natural Resources during the 25th session of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress earlier this month.
More than 1,500 natural resource registration units in key areas were completed nationwide last year, and all five of China's first group of national parks completed ownership registration, the report said.
Local practices have demonstrated how natural resource registration and asset management can support ecological conservation and more efficient resource utilization.
In Fujian province, Wuyi Mountain National Park, one of the country's first pilot sites for natural resource ownership registration, has completed the process. The province has also registered the Min River estuary wetland, the Longjiang River and the main stream of the Jiaoxi River, establishing a comprehensive protection mechanism spanning mountains and waterways.
In Qinghai province, clear boundaries have been established for the Sanjiangyuan National Park, defining its governing bodies, management objectives, responsibilities, rights and obligations. The province has also conducted special ecological value assessments of distinctive natural resources, including water, glaciers, permafrost and the national park, and explored an integrated approach to valuing multiple natural resources. These efforts are laying a data foundation for the development of eco-friendly commercial services.
As part of its efforts to establish a comprehensive inventory of natural resources, Qinghai has mapped the quantity, quality, value, use and distribution of State-owned natural resources across its 684,100-square-kilometer territory, covering 60 key mineral types. The work has drawn on three rounds of pilot asset inventory projects since 2019, with all relevant data integrated into a unified digital platform.
In Wuhu, Anhui province, an industrial area has demonstrated how idle land can be put to more efficient use. Once fragmented by extensive industrial development, the area has been transformed into a multifunctional space combining sci-tech innovation, ecological conservation and public services through unified planning, land reserves and the provision of supporting facilities.
Traditional manufacturers have been relocated, while relatively lightweight heavy equipment has been moved to upper floors to make better use of vertical space, freeing up 57.73 hectares of industrial land.
With support for research and development facilities, the area is now home to 2,000 high-tech enterprises. Land tax revenue per hectare has increased from 1.2 million yuan ($179,888) to 7.5 million yuan.
