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Circular puts stop to misuse of farmland
(China Daily)
Updated: 2004-06-10 22:30 The use of farmland for non-agriculture purposes
has been temporarily given a red light by the country's land and resources
authorities.
As of April 29, land and resources authorities at the provincial and
municipal levels should have stopped approving uses of farmland for
non-agriculture purposes as part of a national campaign that will last until
October.
That was the message from a circular jointly issued on Tuesday by the
Ministry of Land and Resources and the National Development and Reform
Commission to make approvals of land use for project construction more
difficult.
The use of farmland for industrial development in China has been rampant and
millions of Chinese farmers were victimized by illegal land development
projects, officials said.
According to the circular, applications for land use can still go through
approval procedures if farmland is not involved.
Construction projects that are urgently needed, such as energy, transport and
urban infrastructure projects that involve the use of farmland, must receive
approval from the ministry and the commission.
The circular was issued in support of the national campaign, launched after
the State Council issued an urgent notice on regulating the land market and
strengthening the management of land on April 29.
The campaign targets problems concerning the use of land and official
approval of land use, protection of basic farmland resources, the acquisition of
farmland and efforts by local governments to make up for the loss of farmland
used for non-agricultural projects through land development projects.
Also high on the agenda are inspections of the collection and use of
compensation fees for farmers involved in land development deals, as well as
resettlements. Officials also wish to crack down on irregularities in public
bidding and the auctioning of land-use rights for commercial purposes.
Officials and developers who are found to continue to ignore the laws and
policies on land-use deals and acquisition will be severely punished, according
to law.
The Ministry of Land and Resources said earlier this month it has conducted
probes into 9,900 illegal land requisition cases during the first quarter of
this year.
The land earmarked for construction projects as approved by the State Council
in urban areas during the first quarter was down by 46 per cent over the average
quarterly figure for last year.
China has reduced its planned development zones by 17,000 square kilometres
from 35,400 square kilometres, and 1,100 square kilometres of farmland has been
re-cultivated.
Of the country's several thousand development zones and industrial parks,
only 1,251 were approved by the State Council and provincial governments,
according to statistics released by the Ministry of Land and Resources.
The ministry and local government departments in charge of the sector will
also improve the way land use rights are transferred by increasing transparency
and competition, including public bidding.
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