Hong Kong's Bauhinia Magazine:
Last year, the National People's Congress successively publicized amendments to the Land Administration Law and the Law on Rural Land Contracting, which have attracted great attention from all walks of life. My question is for Mr. Han. What progress has been made in deepening reform of the rural land system?
Han Changfu:
You raise a very important question. China's rural reform began with the land system. In the next phase of deepening this reform, we will continue to focus on properly handling the relationship between farmers and land. Specifically, our work will focus on the following "three pieces of lands."
Han Changfu:
The first piece is contracted rural land. Reform in this regard aims at improving the system for separating ownership, contract and management rights for contracted rural land, and well organizing the extension of current rural land contracts by another 30 years. We will ascertain the collective ownership of rural land, stabilize the contractual rights of rural households, and introduce more flexible policies over land management rights. We will work to further activate the powers and functions of rural land, cultivate new types of agricultural businesses, and facilitate the development of appropriately scaled-up agricultural operations. Presently, 540 million mu (about 36 million hectares) of arable land has been transferred among various entities across the country, and 72 million rural households have been able to participate in the land transfer process. The extension of the current rural land contracts by another 30 years was a decision made by the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), which has reassured farmers and has also been written into the revised Land Administration Law. From the first round of land contracting, the system in rural areas will have thus been stabilized for 75 years, providing strong reassurance.
Han Changfu:
The second piece is rural collective land designated for business-related construction. The newly revised Land Administration Law makes it clear such land can enter the market directly when the transfer is in line with planning requirements and is approved by more than two-thirds of the members of the collective economic organizations involved, which is a major reform and innovation. It is estimated that there is more than 42 million mu (about 2.8 million hectares) of rural collective land designated for business-related construction, becoming an important source of farmers' property income.
Han Changfu:
The third piece is rural land used for private housing. This is an important property right for farmers. In this regard, pilot reforms were carried out in 33 county-level administrative areas in 2015. Rural land used for private housing is closely related to the vital interests of farmers and the stability of all rural areas. Therefore, in the next stage, we will select another batch of counties and cities to deepen pilot reforms in accordance with the principle of advancing the reform on rural land used for private housing in a steady, prudent manner.
