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China's cabinet warns of rural land expropriation

On Wednesday, an executive meeting of the State Council passed a draft law amendment that altered rules on how to compensate farmers whose collectively-owned land is expropriated.

Details

★The cabinet demanded more reforms and a better legal system to solve the problem, vowing stricter regulation on farmland expropriation.

★An executive meeting of the State Council, presided over by Premier Wen Jiabao, passed a draft law amendment that altered rules on how to compensate farmers whose collectively-owned land is expropriated, a cabinet statement said.

★The cabinet also urged giving more priority to the countryside in the government's efforts to boost investment and consumption to bolster a slowing economy.

★The government must make efforts to beef up support for farmers and place rural development in a more important position, it said.

Background

Protests by farmers over land seizures have erupted in villages across the country in recent years, prompting calls for better protection of farmers' property rights to the land they have contracted.

In a bid to further develop rural land expropriation reforms, Premier Wen Jiabao called for better protection of farmers’ land rights and improved compensation for those having their land seized on January 16.

China's State Council, or the Cabinet, pledged to push for deeper reforms to address the country's economic problems on February 15.

Premier Wen Jiabao stressed on March 5 that farmers' rights to land are property rights conferred by law and must not be violated by anyone, in a speech reflecting the government's focus on farmers' livelihood and agriculture this year.

In a keynote report to the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China earlier this month, Chinese leader Hu Jintao pressed for the reform of land expropriation system and the increase of farmers' share of gains in land value.

Cabinet Statement

★Rural residents enjoy the legal rights of land contracts, land use and collective income distribution, no matter where they live, in cities or the countryside. ★We will place farmland under strict protection, and formulate and promulgate regulations concerning compensation for the expropriation of rural collective land. ★Too much rural land has been expropriated too fast as industrialization and urbanization accelerate. It not only affects stability in the countryside but also threatens grain security.

Viewpoints

Chinese Media

People's Daily stressed that the improved compensation should be the result of farmers receiving a larger share of profits earned from the development of their land but not local governments inflating real estate prices.

Some experts told the Beijing Times that the greatest resistance to increased compensation would be from local governments.

"When farmers get more, government revenue reduces," said Zheng Fenghe, a professor at Renmin University.

"Who can ensure that local governments will distribute money according to the regulation?” public policy expert Yang Linjie told the Beijing Times. More

The government has been raising compensation standards for land acquisition, but that a lack of legal enforcement had left some farmers out to dry. The central government hopes to let farmers reap the benefits, while the local governments are still focused on the huge interests brought about by land transfer revenue.------Li Guoxiang, from the Rural Development Institute under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

State-owned land is always sold at much higher prices than collectively-owned land. We should let farmers’ land enjoy the same prices and trading rights as State-owned land does. ------Cai Jiming, a director at the Center for Political Economy of the Tsinghua University

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